If people, capital, and business can go anywhere, why would they come to the United States ? On February 2, 2011, CSIS president and CEO John J. Hamre moderated a conversation with CEOs Michael Dell of Dell, Inc., and Samuel J. Palmisano of IBM. During this session, Dr. Hamre and his guests explored the challenges to U.S. IT competitiveness in the twenty-first century, from taxes and trade to education and immigration. To address the current fiscal deficit, Mr. Palmisano argued that the U.S. government can save money by consolidating its IT infrastructure. Mr. Dell said the same can be done for thousands of U.S. government supply chains. Both business leaders agreed that the competitive landscape is shifting as quickly as the middle class is rising in India and China. They argued that adopting newer technology and lowering corporate tax rates will help improve the competitiveness of U.S. businesses.
