Monday night Intel CEO Paul Otellini warned government officials that the U.S. will face a huge tech decline if government policies are not altered. In fact, the "next big thing" won't be invented here in the States, and jobs will be created outside our borders.
The warning was part of his observations about the Obama administration and the nation's economy during dinner at the Technology Policy Institute's Aspen Forum. He took aim at the U.S. legal environment, claiming that its become so hostile to business that there could be "an inevitable erosion and shift of wealth, much like we're seeing today in Europe--this is the bitter truth."
He went on to criticize the administration's Keynesian policy of economic stimulus and its inability to understand the concept of creating new jobs. "They're in a 'Do' loop right now trying to figure out what the answer is," Otellini told the audience.
"I can tell you definitively that it costs $1 billion more per factory for me to build, equip, and operate a semiconductor manufacturing facility in the United States," Otellini said. He also added that the majority of his costs were taxes and regulations not imposed in other countries. If the rates matched those with the rest of the world, outside corporations would have more of an incentive to invest in the U.S.
Former HP CEO and current Republican Senate candidate Carly Fiorina pointed out just a day prior that corporate tax rates are the second highest in the world. Fiorina also said that government policies are pushing jobs overseas rather than making U.S. companies more competitive against international rivals.
Bottom line, if politicians don't cut business taxes, people will not invest in the United States. "They'll invest elsewhere," Otellini said.
