Last month I wrote how well-qualified international applicants are filling the holes in higher education that native-born Americans just can’t (or won’t) seem to fill, and how (anecdotaly) this trend is influencing hiring in high tech. Whether or not you agree with Thomas Friedman that the world changed while we were sleeping, many agree that it’s time to shake off our post-Sputnik slumber and get serious about improving education in America in order to maintain our ability to create new jobs at a time when “there is no such thing as an American job.”

It’s important to remember that globalization is not a zero-sum game. In fact globalization creates new jobs and opportunities everywhere—though not necessarily for everyone who loses and not in exactly the way everyone wants. But there are very real prospects that the US can lose out unless we resolve some structural and social problems. The United States National Academies Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy issued a report earlier this month laying out a plan to retain technical leadership. The major recommendations include:

1. Increase America’s talent pool by vastly improving K-12 mathematics and science education.
2. Sustain and strengthen the nation’s commitment to long-term basic research.
3. Develop, recruit, and retain top students, scientists, and engineers from both the United States and abroad. The United States should be considered the most attractive setting in the world to study and conduct research, the report says.
4. Ensure that the United States is the premier place in the world for innovation. This can be accomplished by actions such as modernizing the U.S. patent system, realigning tax policies to encourage innovation, and ensuring affordable broadband Internet access, the report says.

Interestingly, maintaining (or developing) access to “clean, affordable, and reliable energy” also shows prominently in the report.