Social Networking and Green Technology Isn't Going to Save America's Technology Sector

The Wall Street Journal recently published an interview with Sun Microsystems former CEO Scott McNealy. The United States once led the world in technology, but McNealy paints a far different picture as he describes how the jobs in Silicon Valley are ending up in Asia. It shouldn't be any surprise who is to blame either.

McNealy blames over regulation, not just by the federal government ball all government. As well the new emerging technology sectors like social media and Obama's green technology movement isn't going to save jobs according to McNealy. Here is part of that interview:

WSJ: When did you see Silicon Valley begin to recover from the recession, and how far along has it come?

Mr. McNealy: It's not a terribly job-filled recovery. Productivity gains continue to push the need to hire out.

I see a migration from the early days of the Valley. We aren't doing manufacturing; we aren't doing design; we aren't doing computers. It's all moving to Asia and other places where there are lots of technical engineers who are willing to work at a more reasonable salary because they don't have to spend $3.5 million on a home and pay half of it to taxes.

I think every new transition has created less job opportunity as technology has become very leveraged. I don't think our education system, our regulations, our government policies have kept pace with the changes that technology is driving.

Maybe I'm sounding like an old guy, but [Silicon Valley] ain't what it used to be. I, for one, don't think this is the best place in the world to start a company.

WSJ: What needs to change in Silicon Valley to foster job creation?

Mr. McNealy: It's not the Valley. It's the overhead and the overhang, the clouds brought in by Sacramento and Washington, D.C., the regulations, the deficit and the misallocation of resources. It's all of those things. Obviously, I'm a believer in the private sector and in personal responsibility.

The biggest issues with the Valley are local, state and federal governmental overreach and overregulation. It's over-pensioned, over-unionized and over the top.

WSJ: Are there any unconventional indicators that you watch to judge the health of the local economy?

Mr. McNealy: It's not very scientific, but my boys all play a pretty expensive, but middle-class sport: ice hockey. I see very clearly that there are a lot more financial strains on the families of the hockey teams here in the Bay Area. Families vote not to go to the tournament in Colorado Springs or their kids vote not to do the highest level of hockey because it's too expensive. Or they drop out of hockey altogether. It's significantly worse than it was a couple years ago.