I’ve been reading through a back issue of Business Week called The Innovation Economy (Oct. 11, 2004). The writers did a good job of assembling a lot of statistics about how America’s competitive position is changing, but it’s not clear if we’re on the right track. Floyd Norris of the NY Times, famous for ‘insight in 600 words’ has a fresh take and his evidence is compelling.

Link: The New York Times > Business > Floyd Norris: U.S. Tech Exports Slide, but Trash Sales Are Up. (free registration required, articles free only a few days after posting)

Exports of advanced technology products are down 21 percent, while those of scrap and waste are up 135 percent. To some extent the technology decline reflects the bursting of the bubble, but imports of technology products are up 28 percent, indicating that it’s not just the bubble at work. There are easy jokes to be made about trash and technology, but to make them is to risk overlooking the real importance of the deteriorating trade picture, which is that American competitiveness is waning rapidly, and the lower dollar has done nothing to correct that.