With the dollar's continued swoon and grim news on the job front, American economic competitiveness has become a central theme in the presidential election. Stumping in Ohio and Pennsylvania, old-line industrial states hit hard by the flight of manufacturing jobs, Democrats Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama have called for renegotiating the landmark North American Free Trade Agreement, or Nafta, to help American workers. (John McCain, the Republican nominee, supports the 14-year-old trade pact.) Scholars, too, say the economy is at a critical juncture, but many worry that the increasingly isolationist rhetoric on the campaign trail could prove a distraction from efforts to stimulate innovation and improve the country's competitive position. In this article, several scholars were asked to weigh in on the major policy debates concerning economic competitiveness, including globalization, America's competitive position, and educational investments.