? ?A
history of long and effortless success can be a dreadful handicap, but, if
properly handled, it may become a driving force. When the United States entered
just such a glowing period after the end of the Second World War, it had a
market eight times larger than any competitor, giving its industries
unparalleled economies of scale. ?Its scientists were the world’s best, its
workers the most skilled. America and Americans were prosperous beyond the
dreams of the Europeans and Asians whose economies the war had
destroyed. ? ?It was inevitable that this primacy should have
narrowed as other countries grew richer. Just as inevitably, the retreat from
predominance proved painful. By the mid-1980s Americans had found themselves at
a loss over their fading industrial competitiveness. Some huge American
industries, such as consumer electronics, had shrunk or vanished in the face of
foreign competition. By 1987 there was only one American television maker left,
Zenith. (Now there is none: Zenith was bought by South Korea’s LG Electronics in
July. ) Foreign-made cars and textiles were sweeping into the domestic market
America’s machine-tool industry was on the ropes. For a while it looked as
though the making of semiconductors, which America had which sat at the heart of
the new computer age, was going to be the next casualty. ? ?All of
this caused a crisis of confidence. Americans stopped taking prosperity for
granted. They began to believe that their way of doing business was failing, and
that their incomes would therefore shortly begin to fall as well. The mid-1980s
brought one inquiry after another into the causes of America’s industrial
decline. Their sometimes sensational findings were filled with warnings about
the growing competition from overseas. ? ?How things have changed !
In 1995 the United States can look back on five years of solid growth while
Japan has been struggling. Few Americans attribute this solely to such obvious
causes as a devalued dollar or the turning of the business cycle. Self-doubt has
yielded to blind pride. "American industry has changed its structure, has gone
on a diet, has learnt to be more quick-witted," according to Richard Cavanagh,
executive dean of Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, "It makes me proud to
be an American just to see how our businesses are improving their productivity,"
says Stephen Moore of the Cato Institute, a think-tank in Washington, DC. And
William Sahlman of the Harvard Business School believes that people will look
back on this period as "a golden age of business management in the United
States. "
? ?A
history of long and effortless success can be a dreadful handicap, but, if
properly handled, it may become a driving force. When the United States entered
just such a glowing period after the end of the Second World War, it had a
market eight times larger than any competitor, giving its industries
unparalleled economies of scale. ?Its scientists were the world’s best, its
workers the most skilled. America and Americans were prosperous beyond the
dreams of the Europeans and Asians whose economies the war had
destroyed. ? ?It was inevitable that this primacy should have
narrowed as other countries grew richer. Just as inevitably, the retreat from
predominance proved painful. By the mid-1980s Americans had found themselves at
a loss over their fading industrial competitiveness. Some huge American
industries, such as consumer electronics, had shrunk or vanished in the face of
foreign competition. By 1987 there was only one American television maker left,
Zenith. (Now there is none: Zenith was bought by South Korea’s LG Electronics in
July. ) Foreign-made cars and textiles were sweeping into the domestic market
America’s machine-tool industry was on the ropes. For a while it looked as
though the making of semiconductors, which America had which sat at the heart of
the new computer age, was going to be the next casualty. ? ?All of
this caused a crisis of confidence. Americans stopped taking prosperity for
granted. They began to believe that their way of doing business was failing, and
that their incomes would therefore shortly begin to fall as well. The mid-1980s
brought one inquiry after another into the causes of America’s industrial
decline. Their sometimes sensational findings were filled with warnings about
the growing competition from overseas. ? ?How things have changed !
In 1995 the United States can look back on five years of solid growth while
Japan has been struggling. Few Americans attribute this solely to such obvious
causes as a devalued dollar or the turning of the business cycle. Self-doubt has
yielded to blind pride. "American industry has changed its structure, has gone
on a diet, has learnt to be more quick-witted," according to Richard Cavanagh,
executive dean of Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, "It makes me proud to
be an American just to see how our businesses are improving their productivity,"
says Stephen Moore of the Cato Institute, a think-tank in Washington, DC. And
William Sahlman of the Harvard Business School believes that people will look
back on this period as "a golden age of business management in the United
States. "
What can be inferred from the passage?
A.It is human nature to shift between self-doubt and blind pride. B.Intense competition may contribute to economic progress. C.The revival of the economy depends on international cooperation. D.A long history of success may pave the way for further development.
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