Out of Control

A while back I mentioned a survey of Silicon Valley CEOs. Here is an edited transcript of a discussion the San Jose Mercury News Opinion Pages editor had with a small group of (I’m assuming) area CEOs.

Part of one exchange:

What is the most important federal issue for your company?

Polese: The excessive restrictions on immigration. Some of the best talent just can't get in, or is being actively encouraged to leave, and that talent is really what drove a big part of the economic engine here. We cannot, as a valley, as an industry, as a nation, remain competitive if we don't get a handle on this.

Wilcox: Sarbanes-Oxley or SOX. It is one of the several factors that are limiting the ability of smaller companies to go public.

De Geus: We're absolutely in a knowledge-based economy and brain power determines your opportunity in the global economy. So it is incredibly exciting to see hear the president talk about algebra. Now everyone is talking about ``being competitive,'' which means doing better in math and science. What we really need is to make that belief, from the government down, a national priority.

Read the whole thing for more on housing, transportation, and other business bugaboos.