The United States is a great place to be talented, but a poor place to develop your talents. The combination of tax and regulatory policies, access to capital, freedom of movement and expression, and concentration of other exceptional people allows the best and brightest to thrive economically and culturally. But for most American students, getting there is tricky, due to the bias against advanced education in our K-12 schools and teacher prep programs.
This dichotomy is what makes recent visa debates so vexing: For every H-1B visa holder who thrives in and contributes to our country’s economy and culture, we can point to many more students already in the U.S. who have few opportunities to develop their strengths into true excellence. We need both highly skilled immigrants and highly talented Americans, because the American economy has an almost infinite need for exceptional…
