Globalization Isn't Killing GM

The number is shocking: "GM axe is to fall on 30,000," read the Financial Times banner headline.

But it's even more shocking to me that the chief executives who run some of our biggest manufacturing companies now seem to have only one solution to any corporate problem: Cut costs. These CEOs are cost-cutting the U.S. out of a middle class. They've forgotten how to compete and grow.

U.S. companies such as Google(GOOG Quote) and Apple(AAPL Quote) still know how to innovate. Technology giants such as Cisco Systems(CSCO Quote) and Dell(DELL Quote) still want to conquer the world. U.S. companies such as Nucor(NUE Quote) and Starbucks(SBUX Quote) can still revolutionize mature industries such as steelmaking and coffee-dripping.

But too many of the biggest -- and once the best -- U.S. companies have abandoned growth. ...