Who Is Us?

Across the United States, you can hear calls for us to revitalize our national competitiveness. But wait—who is “us”? Is it IBM, Motorola, Whirlpool, and General Motors? Or is it Sony, Thomson, Philips, and Honda? Consider two successful corporations: Corporation A is headquartered north of New York City. Most of its top managers are citizens […]

by

Robert B. Reich

by

Robert B. Reich

From the Magazine (January–February 1990)

Across the United States, you can hear calls for us to revitalize our national competitiveness. But wait—who is “us”? Is it IBM, Motorola, Whirlpool, and General Motors? Or is it Sony, Thomson, Philips, and Honda?

A version of this article appeared in the January–February 1990 issue of Harvard Business Review.

Robert B. Reich is a professor of public policy at the University of California at Berkeley. He has served in three U.S. administrations, most recently as Bill Clinton’s secretary of labor, and was an economic adviser to President-elect Barack Obama. Time magazine has named him one of the 10 most successful cabinet members of the past century.

Who Is Us?

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