In 2009 you and I, and all of our fellow Americans bought more than 300 billion foreign-made technology products.

Yep, our smartphones, e-book readers, and many of our cars. No worries, I’m not about to launch out on some “apple pie and motherhood” rant, I’m just making sure we’re conscious of how we behave as consumers. It’s common people like you and me who are “globalizing” our marketplace and workforce …. It’s ok, or at least Marco Polo thought so when he made a name for himself in 1275 by opening up a trade route to China, but took a shortcut and ran into America in the process!

It’s the familiarity of technology of the Industrial Age, the brain and computer power of the Information Age and the shift toward globalization that has created this “perfect storm” for maximizing productivity in a whole host of directions…let’s talk and consider options that make sense for you.

“The vital capital stock of our modern economy is not our buildings or or factories, or farms. It is our brains. It is our ability to conjure new and better ideas, inventions, and solutions. It is our commitment to exceptional customer service. It is our designs for better buildings, faster computers, and more successful space flights. It manifests itself in new financing products and medical breakthroughs, in mathematical formulas and biochemical experiments in physics and engineering and design…..In today’s economy, you earn what you learn.” — Richard W. Fisher, President & CEO, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas