Fascinating article about a story that many of the world’s elite buy-into (The Atlantic Monthly, Jan/Feb 2010).
Today’s super-rich are harder-working and meritocratic versus previous generations. They are less tied to the nations that granted them opportunity. They are “post-national.”
What was most interesting (and enlightening about why American jobs are never coming back) to me was that these global elites have applied the story I was taught as the story of American prosperity (innovation, freedom, self-made-ness, meritocracy, clever management, etc.) on the global stage. Because they operate “above” America, they don’t feel that US policy (in the form of employment , taxes, and infrastructure goals ) applies to them that much. They are not getting that much from America so they don’t feel obligated to give that much to it.
I can’t wait to read more in Chrystia Freeland’s upcoming book.