GAAS Keynote Speaker Michael Cox stressed that people skills will become the United States’ best competitive advantage. 060

By Brian Cruickshank, AAP
Editor, Counterman

DETROIT -- “China and India are vying to be the new world leaders,” announced the Symposium’s keynote speaker, Michael Cox, who kicked off the annual event on Tuesday morning.

So influential is the rise of China and India in the global economy that Cox believes the two countries pose the most significant economic change since he received his PhD in 1976.

Cox should know. He is the senior vice president and chief economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas where he advises the bank on monetary and other economic policies. He is widely published in the leading economic journals and his book “Myths of Rich and Poor” was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. But best of all, as Symposium Chairperson Jimsey Keith pointed out, he just might be among the only economist in the nation who is a “certifiable car nut.”

Certainly, China and India pose problems for the North American economy, whose challenge is to compete with developing-nation wages. Specifically, Cox pointed out that North American wages are in the top tier, while China and India are in the bottom. Additionally, China’s and India’s relative workforce sizes completely eclipse those in North America. The numbers bear this out and tangibly illustrate the differences: Currently, the US workforce totals 147 million; collectively, China and India have a workforce of 1.2 billion.

How can the North American market compete in light of these realities? Cox cited Japan as an example of what not to do when faced with increased offshore competition: Don’t lobby for protectionist laws. Japan tried this tactic and it has proved a failure.

Cox also advised against rhetoric such as “Buy American” campaigns. He said that telling people to support American products is not as effective as actually manufacturing great products people want to buy.

To compete, Cox said that North American manufacturers need to produce the very best products. He said that manufacturers should “think and act globally,” and applauds the automotive industry’s global sourcing practices.

Cox said companies need to develop North America’s most important competitive advantage: people skills. While North America cannot match China and India’s collective muscle power, North America can compete by developing its imagination, creativity, interpersonal skills and emotional intelligence. Cox concluded his 40-minute presentation by stressing that these soft skills are becoming the hard new competitive and comparative advantages for the North American economy.

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