The World has changed a lot since 2008. When the U.S. economy hit the mother of all brick walls, it gave the developing countries time to catch up. And they did.

What scares me is the belief in the U.S. that given a little time, a better congress, a different president or lower taxes, things would go back to the way they were before the crash. Many small to mid-sized businesses are waiting it out. They aren’t innovating. They aren’t marketing. They are just treading water. They are waiting for a recovery that isn’t going to show up unless they make it happen.

As we stall out, unable to catch enough lift to regain altitude, other countries are digging in, building factories, fixing infrastructure and adopting energy policies. The U.S. sabre rattles while India finds its economic footing. We may be the customer support center for India some day soon!

If we don’t start fighting now, with improved quality and better services, we will be supplanted. Our $16 trillion debt will sink us when we become the second biggest economy in a couple of years.

And still we wait.

The silence is deafening.

Let’s get to work right now. If we don’t accept the new reality, we may slide back into an even more serious recession.

Chris Reich, TeachU