WINCE-SMITH: Candidates must focus on U.S. competitiveness

Both President Obama and Mitt Romney have mentioned U.S. competitiveness on the campaign trail. Neither, however, has laid out how he would turbocharge our economic engines for the hypercompetitive race ahead. With Nov. 6 approaching quickly, time is running out for the candidates to tell us what they would do.

America as a place to do business: The reality is that businesses will locate and invest in any part of the world they think will help them achieve a competitive advantage. America is becoming a more costly place to do business. The structural cost burden on U.S. manufacturers — what they pay for taxes, employee benefits, torts, environmental regulation and energy — has increased 20 percent relative to costs for their counterparts in our nine largest trading partners.

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