"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." Lord Acton

Immigration and Innovation

From today’s WaPo:

About 25 percent of the technology and engineering companies launched in the past decade had at least one foreign-born founder, according to a study released yesterday that throws new information into the debate over foreign workers who arrive in the United States on specialty visas.

Scott McNealy, chairman and co-founder of Sun Microsystems, “is among the advocates for an expanded visa program, writing editorials, calling members of Congress and supporting political action committees.”

He asks a pretty good question, I think: “Why would you have any arbitrary number on smart people?”

The Outsourced Knight

James Dyson, inventor of the world’s most exciting bagless vacuum cleaner, will receive a knighthood. Speaking of his company, the BBC reports:

Today, the company has about 1,400 staff in the UK, with about 4,000 others working in production plants in Malaysia and China.

Despite his successes, Mr Dyson has been criticised for his decision to ship so many production jobs abroad.

Paul Kenny, general secretary of the GMB said: “Do people now get a knighthood for services to exporting jobs?”

By contrast, Dyson says, “I have spent 35 years making things in a country that often has little regard for its manufacturers.”

“It has left me more convinced than ever that engineering is this country’s future.”

HT: Gear Factor