America would continue to dominate the 21st century economies because it allows people to think differently, the US Vice President Joe Biden has said.
"Steve Jobs, in that famous exchange with the student at Stanford, said, 'think different'.
You can't think different in a country where you can't speak freely. You can't think different in a country where you are not allowed to challenge the orthodoxy. You can't think different in a country that limits what you can be engaged in," Biden said in his address to the Export-Import Bank of the US.
In saying so, he was apparently referring to China.
"That's why I'm so optimistic about our future because I believe in the 21st century the true wealth of a nation is found in the creative mind of its people and their ability to innovate, to develop technologies that not only span new products but entire new industries," he said.
Observing that more than any other country, the US is hard-wired for innovation, Biden said it has enabled generation after generation of Americans to give life to world-changing ideas, from the cotton gin to the airplane to the microchip to the Internet, and the list could go on and on and on.
"These accomplishments were made possible by the boundless capacity of the American people and the immigrants who constantly enrich and revitalise our national fabric.
And that, more than anything, is why I truly believe we're better positioned than any country in the world to be the leading economy of the 21st century," he said.
"At the same time, we know that things are changing. We have to make sure we maintain our edge. We need to make sure we are fully equipped for the coming competition. And that takes me to the last point. That's why we're investing so much in education.
That's why we think it's so critical. That's why we're making early education, STEM education such a high priority. That's why we made investment in research and development so critical and central to our economic agenda," Biden added.
