Just as importantly, our children's ability to have a life that is better than ours depends in part upon their ability to be successful financially. For most of us, that means finding a good job. If my grandfather has seen changes in this lifetime, it is likely that they will pale in comparison to what we will see. In the last 25 years those changes have been dramatic. The new economic competition to a great extent will affect the standard of living that workers have.
Jobs are more and more readily moved to cheaper labor markets.
If we want to maintain higher standards of living, our workers must have higher skills that are in demand. To help give Missourians an advantage I propose that we focus some of our resources for higher education, including technical training, in a new program designed to give incentives for Missouri students to study in fields of high need in the state. This program would offer loans to students in qualifying fields. These loans could be forgiven if the student graduates in that field and stays in Missouri. Missouri businesses would gain by having more individuals with needed skills and incentives for these students to stay in this state after graduation.