O anónimo engenheiro da província tem companhia

Frequentemente escrevo aqui sobre a tríade de encalhados e sobre as suas propostas para que o país ganhe competitividade.
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As minhas propostas e as da tríade não podiam ser mais diferentes. Podem perguntar, mas o que é que um anónimo engenheiro da província sabe que os doutores que falam nos media não sabem?
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O que é que os elementos da tríade entendem por competitividade? E as receitas que propõem vão ao encontro desse entendimento?
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Quando falam de produtividade é a mesma coisa. São capazes de repetir definições que associam o aumento da produtividade à melhoria do nível de vida dos trabalhadores. Depois, para aumentar a produtividade, propõem uma série de medidas que passam por  reduzir o nível de vida dos trabalhadores
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Por tudo isto, este anónimo engenheiro da província, sentiu-se agradado com isto:
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"America [Portugal] cannot address its economic prospects without a clear understanding of what we mean by competitiveness and how it shapes U.S. prosperity. The concept is widely misunderstood, with dangerous consequences for political discourse, policy, and corporate choices that are all too evident today.

The United States  [Portugal] is a competitive location to the extent that companies operating in the U.S. are able to compete successfully in the global economy while supporting high and rising living standards for the average American  [Portuguese] . (We thank Richard Vietor and Matthew Weinzierl for helping to articulate this definition.) A competitive location produces prosperity for both companies and citizens.
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(Moi ici: Agora, preparem-se para o que aí vem)

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Lower American [Portuguese] wages do not boost U.S. [Portuguese] competitiveness. Neither does a cheaper dollar. (Moi ici: Os primeiros dois coelhos da tríade) A weakened currency makes imports more expensive (Moi ici: Será que a tríade não vê que nós nunca vamos produzir petróleo? Sem contar com as importações de petróleo, no último trimestre de 2011, Portugal exportou quase 1,6 euros por cada euro importado) and discounts the price of American exports—in essence, it constitutes a national pay cut. Some steps that reduce firms’ short-term costs, then, actually work against the true competitiveness of the United States [Portugal]. 

(Moi ici: Reparem nesta outra proposta que é comum nas mensagens deste anónimo engenheiro da província, a concentração no valor!!!) Whether a nation is competitive hinges instead on its long-run productivity— (Moi ici: Segue-se a parte preciosa) that is, the value of goods and services produced per unit of human, capital, and natural resources. Only by improving their ability to transform inputs into valuable products and services can companies in a country prosper while supporting rising wages for citizens. Increasing productivity over the long run should be the central goal of economic policy. This requires a business environment that supports continual innovation in products, processes, and management. (Moi ici: Ou seja, a chave da melhoria da produtividade não está em correr mais depressa, em debitar mais do mesmo. É mudar a qualidade do que se faz!!! É subir na escala de valor)

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Boosting productivity over the short run by firing workers, as many U.S. firms did at the onset of the Great Recession in 2008, is a reflection not of competitiveness but of weakness. An economy in which many working-age citizens cannot find or do not even seek jobs may appear to enjoy high productivity in the short run, but in fact it has underlying competitiveness problems. It is a nation’s ability to generate high output per employable person—not per currently employed person—that reveals its true competitiveness.
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(Moi ici: Agora, outra das minhas mensagens, o emprego não é um objectivo, é uma consequência!)
Improving competitiveness is not the same as creating jobs. Policy makers can stimulate employment in the short run by artificially boosting demand in labor-intensive local industries not exposed to international competition, such as construction. (Moi ici: Qual foi a receita de sucessivos governos, no continente e nas ilhas? Ainda hoje continuam a querer apostar nessa tecla - Seguro e o túnel do Marão, Álvaro Pereira e velocidade elevada, e Filipe Menezes e a avenida para as praias) Creating jobs without improving productivity, however, will not result in sustainable employment that raises the nation’s standard of living. Rather than defining the sole goal as job creation, the U.S. must focus on becoming a more productive location, which will generate high-wage employment growth in America, attract foreign investment, and fuel sustainable growth in demand for local goods and services.
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Government efforts to stimulate demand are also different from improving competitiveness. Governments commonly play an important role by temporarily increasing outlays to soften the impact of recessions. Such moves may hold up living standards and company performance in the short run, but they typically don’t improve the fundamental drivers of productivity and therefore cannot improve living standards and company performance in the long run.
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Competitiveness is not a zero-sum game, in which one country can advance only if others lose. Long-term productivity—and, along with it, living standards—can improve in many countries. Global competition is not a fight for a fixed pool of demand; huge needs for improving living standards are waiting to be met around the world. Productivity improvements in one country create new demand for goods and services that firms in other countries can pursue.(Moi ici: Como ilustra o crescimento das exportações portuguesas para a China em mais de 65% em 2011) Greater productivity in, say, India can lead to higher wages and profits there, boosting demand for pharmaceuticals from New Jersey and software from Silicon Valley. Spreading innovation and productivity improvement allows global prosperity to grow."

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Trecho retirado de "The Looming Challenge to U.S. Competitiveness" de Michael E. Porter e Jan W. Rivkin.

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