The 21 st century will be governed by nations that have a strong demographic strength in terms of youth and knowledge. We are moving towards the Knowledge economy; India and China are leading the way. BPO's and offshore manufacturing was just the beginning a tip of the iceberg, all business decisions will be made subsequently based on the best value for the buck with high quality results regardless of geographic proximity

What seems to be happening now: Countries are becoming suppliers. Suppliers of services and products. In the past, there was basically the USA. Now, there are more suppliers (countries) competing for the world's business.

If we were actually speaking about competing companies, we could easily list critical steps to imrpove competitiveness: improve quality, reduce cost, become lean, etc.

Well, each country's leadership must start thinking the same way. Systems and processes. Are they meeting the needs of customers? Are they allowing us to compete in a global market? If not, what must change. For example, is our educational system preparing future workers the same as Japan, Germany, China, and India?

On the economic side, I would agree that countries need to behave like suppliers. However, nations were created specifically because people have other needs than making money. The government must provide structure to optimize private activities (like commerce), create an environment for education, provide for the health of the people, support those who are in need, and create some level of equity across ages and social classes.

If countries become the same as companies, then we may create a society in which everyone has money, but the country is not a place worth living in. Several movie and book images come to mind:
- Bladerunner
- Logan's Run
- Jennifer Government
- 1984

It is not either/or - we must have both financial resources and social resources.