I'll have to post sometime at the <a href="http://www.livejournal.com/community/iworkatborders/">Border Group employees' LiveJournal</a>.

##Brain Drain USA

I've got very little to back this up beyond a few anecdotes and a forgotten newspaper reference, but I would like to toss out an idea that has been forming in my mind.  Would it be possible for the United States to experience a brain drain?  Brain drain is the phenomenon defined by <a href="http://www.dictionary.com">Dictionary.com</a> as <q>the loss of skilled intellectual and technical labor through the movement of such labor to more favorable geographic, economic, or professional environments</q>.  It is typically associated with developing countries, whose young people go abroad to be educated and choose not to return to their homeland.  As the economy worsens, companies and universities cut down on hiring, and government exerts more control on research through Homeland Security, it may be possible that the brightest Americans would choose to take their talents to more rewarding and free environments, both in industry and academia.  It's just a thought.

--<ins>Update: I first saw this written at <a href="http://www.kottke.org/03/03/030314america_20.html">Jason Kottke's website</a>, as I recall.</ins>