But in the contest for really marketable skills, government will often be at a disadvantage.
Lack of vision, lack of skills, government indifference, complacency: they all play a part in industrial decline.
Lewin's research comparing public- and private-sector pay shows that higher wages for low-skill government jobs are offset by lower salaries for public employees with jobs that require more education and training.
For the sake of their children but also their countries' future prosperity in a world that increasingly needs an educated workforce with technological skills, governments must take action, said Kim, adding that equality of opportunity was meaningless when children started with such disadvantage.
Without targeted action today to manage the near-term transition and build a workforce with futureproof skills, governments will have to cope with ever-growing unemployment and inequality, and businesses with a shrinking consumer base.
The phone-record link underscored the combination of investigative skill, increased government integration and sheer luck that helped authorities track down Faisal Shahzad just 53 hours after a vehicle packed with explosives was parked in the heart of Manhattan.
The team is now in talks with E-skills, the government's sector skills council for business and IT, about getting the Raspberry FishPi into schools.
"We're still looking for someone who fits the criteria of training, knowledge, education, experience and skill," a government official said.
Thanks to luck and skill, the government managed to finance a century's worth of horrendously expensive wars in a way that not only did not cripple commerce but mobilised commercial resources for new challenges.The key piece of skill was the mechanism of "funding" that secured interest payments.
His tenacity, charm and persuasive skills persuaded government to introduce many regulations to improve safety.
More pointedly, and unfortunately for Romney, business executives have only a mediocre record when transferring their skills to government.
