Hey, Barack! Better number manipulators than word twisters. What did you ever "make?"

A question to our President
You said you'd like to see "our best and brightest commit themselves to making things" rather than responding to a culture that celebrates "those who can manipulate numbers." In what ways do you want to foster companies that make things?
His answer
One of the goals of my economic policy is to help lay the foundation for durable economic growth, which drives innovation in our businesses and helps nurture the next generation of homegrown scientists, engineers, and innovators. But as we move forward in this effort, we cannot ignore the fact that our education system is not adequately preparing our workers for a 21st-century economy. Our businesses cannot compete and win in the global economy without a more effectively trained workforce - especially in areas like math and science. That is why so many corporate leaders are advocating for more effective investments in education - from early-childhood education to cultivating more homegrown engineering talent. And that is why I have set a goal that will greatly enhance our ability to compete for the jobs of the 21st century: By 2020, America will once again have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world.

****It won't help if our "college graduates" study "Studies" or become "community organizers" or...LAWYERS? I once heard a speaker point out that the Japanese had 4X more engineers than we did per capita but that we had 25X more lawyers per capita. This, he figured, gave the Japanese an advantage of 100X. ****