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In the colonial daze, the First Worlders extracted resources from the 3rd Team, while hoarding the means of production. Finished goods were a mandatory one-way street. Today, with the Cold War kaput, we've seen something never seen before, the exuberant shipping out of the productive economy to 2nd and 3rd Worlders, with goods returning en masse. Financial dominance has become the all-important exclusive pointed gun of the First Worlders. Truly an historical progression . . .
Former Sun CEO Worries About Region's Prospects
By CARI TUNA
Even as Silicon Valley's unemployment rate eases and many local technology companies post positive financial results, Scott McNealy is pessimistic.
Santa Clara County's jobless rate fell to 10.4% in December from 11.3% a year earlier. But Mr. McNealy, the co-founder and former chief executive of computer maker Sun Microsystems Inc., doesn't think Silicon Valley's emerging sectors such as social networking and "green" technology are going to make up for jobs lost as sectors such as software and computers consolidate.
Winni Wintermeyer for The Wall Street Journal Scott McNealy was CEO of Sun Microsystems for 22 years.
Mr. McNealy, 56 years old, who served as Sun Microsystems' CEO for 22 years until 2006 and was chairman when the company was acquired by Oracle Corp. for $7.4 billion in 2010, now sits on the board of education nonprofit Curriki.org and advises several start-ups. He recently discussed Silicon Valley's jobs picture:
WSJ: When did you see Silicon Valley begin to recover from the recession, and how far along has it come?
Mr. McNealy: It's not a terribly job-filled recovery. Productivity gains continue to push the need to hire out. A lot of the jobs today are around two areas:
government-sponsored green initiatives and the social-networking space.
I'm skeptical that the green jobs are [going to drive the recovery]. So far, the track record's been terrible. That's going to be a challenge for the people here who stuck their neck out to go green.
Then there's social networking, which is a pretty interesting phenomenon. There's a lot of energy there, but that's not a terribly labor-intensive kind of activity. I don't think social networking is the jobs driver.
I see a migration from the early days of the Valley. We aren't doing manufacturing; we aren't doing design; we aren't doing computers. It's all moving to Asia and other places where there are lots of technical engineers who are willing to work at a more reasonable salary because they don't have to spend $3.5 million on a home and pay half of it to taxes.
I think every new transition has created less job opportunity as technology has become very leveraged. I don't think our education system, our regulations, our government policies have kept pace with the changes that technology is driving.
WSJ: LinkedIn has filed for an initial public offering, and Facebook is expected to go public in the next couple of years. Aren't these positive signs?
Mr. McNealy: It's certainly going to make some venture capitalists successful. But I'm not sure that's going to change the rank and file's feelings of the recovery at all here, with all that's wrong with doing real business in California.
WSJ: Is activity increasing in the start-up arena?
Mr. McNealy: I think there's a lot of churn and activity. I don't think there's start-up activity in real [research and development] and manufacturing. There's a lot in entertainment, virtual and social networking. But I'm not sure it's really going to change the quality of life in a positive way for a lot of people.
Maybe I'm sounding like an old guy, but [Silicon Valley] ain't what it used to be. I, for one, don't think this is the best place in the world to start a company.
WSJ: What needs to change in Silicon Valley to foster job creation?
Mr. McNealy: It's not the Valley. It's the overhead and the overhang, the clouds brought in by Sacramento and Washington, D.C., the regulations, the deficit and the misallocation of resources. It's all of those things. Obviously, I'm a believer in the private sector and in personal responsibility.
The biggest issues with the Valley are local, state and federal governmental overreach and overregulation. It's over-pensioned, over-unionized and over the top.
WSJ: Are there any unconventional indicators that you watch to judge the health of the local economy?
Mr. McNealy: It's not very scientific, but my boys all play a pretty expensive, but middle-class sport: ice hockey. I see very clearly that there are a lot more financial strains on the families of the hockey teams here in the Bay Area. Families vote not to go to the tournament in Colorado Springs or their kids vote not to do the highest level of hockey because it's too expensive. Or they drop out of hockey altogether. It's significantly worse than it was a couple years ago.
WSJ: How are you spending your time these days?
Mr. McNealy: I sound like a grumpy old man. I'm having a ball. I'm the new commissioner of the Alternative Golf Association [which Mr. McNealy started last year with three friends], launching a new game called Flogton, ["not golf" spelled backward]. I'm on the board of Curriki.org. We're providing a great resource for people to access all kinds of learning assets on the website. I'm involved in a stealth-mode start-up [called WayIn] that I'm spending a lot of time on, and then I have about 30 companies that I'm doing free consulting to. I'm having the time of my life, but I'm an old guy. I'm not young with my whole future in front of me. My kids are the ones who are going to have to learn Mandarin. I've suggested that to all four of them.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...Tabs%3Darticle
Former Sun CEO Worries About Region's Prospects
By CARI TUNA
Even as Silicon Valley's unemployment rate eases and many local technology companies post positive financial results, Scott McNealy is pessimistic.
Santa Clara County's jobless rate fell to 10.4% in December from 11.3% a year earlier. But Mr. McNealy, the co-founder and former chief executive of computer maker Sun Microsystems Inc., doesn't think Silicon Valley's emerging sectors such as social networking and "green" technology are going to make up for jobs lost as sectors such as software and computers consolidate.
Winni Wintermeyer for The Wall Street Journal Scott McNealy was CEO of Sun Microsystems for 22 years.
Mr. McNealy, 56 years old, who served as Sun Microsystems' CEO for 22 years until 2006 and was chairman when the company was acquired by Oracle Corp. for $7.4 billion in 2010, now sits on the board of education nonprofit Curriki.org and advises several start-ups. He recently discussed Silicon Valley's jobs picture:
WSJ: When did you see Silicon Valley begin to recover from the recession, and how far along has it come?
Mr. McNealy: It's not a terribly job-filled recovery. Productivity gains continue to push the need to hire out. A lot of the jobs today are around two areas:
government-sponsored green initiatives and the social-networking space.
I'm skeptical that the green jobs are [going to drive the recovery]. So far, the track record's been terrible. That's going to be a challenge for the people here who stuck their neck out to go green.
Then there's social networking, which is a pretty interesting phenomenon. There's a lot of energy there, but that's not a terribly labor-intensive kind of activity. I don't think social networking is the jobs driver.
I see a migration from the early days of the Valley. We aren't doing manufacturing; we aren't doing design; we aren't doing computers. It's all moving to Asia and other places where there are lots of technical engineers who are willing to work at a more reasonable salary because they don't have to spend $3.5 million on a home and pay half of it to taxes.
I think every new transition has created less job opportunity as technology has become very leveraged. I don't think our education system, our regulations, our government policies have kept pace with the changes that technology is driving.
WSJ: LinkedIn has filed for an initial public offering, and Facebook is expected to go public in the next couple of years. Aren't these positive signs?
Mr. McNealy: It's certainly going to make some venture capitalists successful. But I'm not sure that's going to change the rank and file's feelings of the recovery at all here, with all that's wrong with doing real business in California.
WSJ: Is activity increasing in the start-up arena?
Mr. McNealy: I think there's a lot of churn and activity. I don't think there's start-up activity in real [research and development] and manufacturing. There's a lot in entertainment, virtual and social networking. But I'm not sure it's really going to change the quality of life in a positive way for a lot of people.
Maybe I'm sounding like an old guy, but [Silicon Valley] ain't what it used to be. I, for one, don't think this is the best place in the world to start a company.
WSJ: What needs to change in Silicon Valley to foster job creation?
Mr. McNealy: It's not the Valley. It's the overhead and the overhang, the clouds brought in by Sacramento and Washington, D.C., the regulations, the deficit and the misallocation of resources. It's all of those things. Obviously, I'm a believer in the private sector and in personal responsibility.
The biggest issues with the Valley are local, state and federal governmental overreach and overregulation. It's over-pensioned, over-unionized and over the top.
WSJ: Are there any unconventional indicators that you watch to judge the health of the local economy?
Mr. McNealy: It's not very scientific, but my boys all play a pretty expensive, but middle-class sport: ice hockey. I see very clearly that there are a lot more financial strains on the families of the hockey teams here in the Bay Area. Families vote not to go to the tournament in Colorado Springs or their kids vote not to do the highest level of hockey because it's too expensive. Or they drop out of hockey altogether. It's significantly worse than it was a couple years ago.
WSJ: How are you spending your time these days?
Mr. McNealy: I sound like a grumpy old man. I'm having a ball. I'm the new commissioner of the Alternative Golf Association [which Mr. McNealy started last year with three friends], launching a new game called Flogton, ["not golf" spelled backward]. I'm on the board of Curriki.org. We're providing a great resource for people to access all kinds of learning assets on the website. I'm involved in a stealth-mode start-up [called WayIn] that I'm spending a lot of time on, and then I have about 30 companies that I'm doing free consulting to. I'm having the time of my life, but I'm an old guy. I'm not young with my whole future in front of me. My kids are the ones who are going to have to learn Mandarin. I've suggested that to all four of them.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...Tabs%3Darticle