But America can do better than that, and it will. In fact, the seeds are being planted now. In Silicon Valley, investing in social-media companies is already passé. Last year, as private investors were bidding up Facebook's valuation to $100 billion, the veteran Silicon Valley investor Roger McNamee said "the next 500 social-media companies will lose money." He's broadly right. The time to make big returns in Facebook and in social media has passed.
In a new poll, about half the people surveyed think Facebook is just a fad. Since it has s0me 900 million users around the planet, that may be overstating it a tad. Facebook is not this era's CB radio. But its reach is wide, not deep. People may be amused or diverted by their Facebook experiences, but they're not really passionate about them.
The author says, and I think he's right, that the coming innovations, especially in transportation and energy, are going to put this country in very good shape in the world economy and that "made in the USA" is set to have a major comeback.
