Dr. Tony Vercillo

On September 26th, Ford Motor Co Chief Executive Officer Alan Mulally stated that the company would be taking their best vehicle models and technologies to China in order to meet consumer demands over there. Many companies are starting to take this focus by utilizing business plans on emerging markets, according to ChinaDaily.

Ford Motor Co President and CEO Alan Mulally (1st L) receives an interview in Beijing, capital of China, Sept 26, 2011. Alan Mulally said on Sept 26, 2011 the company will introduce its best models and technologies to China in order to meet the demands of Chinese consumers. [Photo/Xinhua]

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This begs the question: When did the United States stop being the industrial leader of the world? Wait, let me rephrase, when did we stop being the industrial focus of the world? We are still the leader in many respects; after all, the article did state that the focus was on emerging markets, not established ones.

According to the article, global sales in vehicles for Ford will increase to 8 million in 2020, an increase from 5.3 million last year. It’s expected that almost 70 percent of those sales will come from the Asia-Pacific region, as well as from Africa. Of that growth, China is expected to be the largest consumer of all.

With our economy in such dire straights, it's not a wonder that so many industries from East to West are taking their best business overseas. Consumerism is down, our GDP took a big hit this year, and people are still genuinely concerned about where our country is going it. That doesn't make for happy spending.

Current GDP of the United States

As you can see, while the U.S. GDP did start to increase in 2010, the almost government shutdown earlier this year that resulted in a debt ceiling increase cost us that edge.

U.S. Consumer Spending

While there is a little bit of an increase in consumer spending, disposable income is at an all-time low this year. Since consumers have so little income to spend, what it's being spent on amounts to no more than the necessities at this point.

So what does that mean for us? It means that until consumer confidence changes and more people in this country start spending on more than just groceries, our access to the newest technologies will continue to decrease. Markets such as China will see not only the great technologies that come  out of their country, but the great technology and innovation that comes out of ours.

When Steve Jobs died earlier this week, he took with him a bit of the American Spirit. There are so few "disposable income" products created today that harness the kind of excitement his products brought. "What has Steve made for us today?" So many people cannot afford much right now, but there is still a deep love of Apple products and a constant flurry to get the latest and greatest that was born from a little computer called Mac. Here's hoping that Tim Cook can keep some of that Spirit alive.