invest in infrastructure. it's not even our money. they would rather buy that than to buy the bonds, to be honest. and yet we can't -- so everyone says that is great. if people want to put the money down, we have needs in the area but we have a market that doesn't work. and i think that's a shame when we have that unemployed people like that. and that's where i feel we need some -- you mentioned it, bruce. i don't know if it's trans parn tea by not taking -- taking six months and you're costing people jobs that are out there and i wonder y. is it that we look at the stock market every 25 minutes on television about where it is moving? why aren't we watching what the progress is on an infrastructure project? why aren't we putting tents up around that? i feel very passionate about

that because the money is there to put it in.ain i think the good news is that there's some local leaders that actually want to do something. we just have to get the transparency there so that people see it. >> maybe one question after this to get everyone sorted. >> dominic, i think you raised an actually fundamental question here and that is the way that the government does funding. it's idiotic. now, why is there not an outcry in the business community? i mean, this is something that could bring two ends of the political spectrum together because it's so obvious that we need to remain competitive so obvious that we have a big

budget deficit. and so -- and it's also totally obvious that with some financial ingenuity we could develop the tools to do this. this is where i personally think the mckenzies and duponts and everybody should push and where brookings should push. >> absolutely. amen. >> this is actually going to take us back to a cultural conversation. you watch the stock markets. i'm on twitter all day long. and it's very interesting, because if we were up here talking about biking in cities, with a celebrity, let's say, there would be thousands of tweets right now. if we were focusing on transit, you know, urban building, maybe

hundreds of tweets. the bikers, by the way, tweet more than anyone else. i'm trying to get some tweets now. but there's not a lot of twitter traffic on this and i'm wondering, is that a sign that when we talk about the real commanding heights of the economy, so to speak, advanced industry, innovation, experts, foreign direct investment, we're talking about a certain cohert who were not plugged in to social media and not spending most of their days this way. the end of this question is really -- or comment is, you know, to use a margaret thatcher phrase, we might have to sex this up a little to really get

the culture change we need around labor, around skills, around seeing this as a career path and a professional path and life path. because when you think about the americans, there is a past that we have of people tinkering around the country. we are well attended, right? we have to think just the cultural level there needs to be a different thought process outreach along with what antwan is describing with some of the key policy things that we need to hack at to get done. i don't know. any thoughts? are you guys on twitter? >> i can barely handle e-mail. but one story i'd give on that and i'd give a prize to antwan if we could get twitters going

on investment rather than expenditure. >> agree with you. that said, we could leverage it. the fellow who base cloo did chair yots of fire, i can't remember his name, in the house of lords now. he changed his life to focus on education. he basically was doing advertising awards and they gave it to a social media house and the company that won, it was for life-o-savers in the uk. what this small advertising agency did was they found 25 bloggers whose average age was 15 years old and these bloggers had a following of -- on the order of -- it's a big group. and then they sent a jacket from the rsl. they sent a little video about these people that volunteered and so effort.

>> right. >> long story short, they ended up signing 100,000 people with an age of 21 that were putting in not a single dollar spent on advertising. so, again, i think there's a lot that could be done to tap into people. i think the people just don't know necessarily what the problem is and they could understand it to be tangible to people and then i think it's a matter of there's so many vehicles, whether it goes back to education and the schooling system, do we talk about this. i think in media we talk about a lot of it is on compensation. where are the stories of these heroes inventing things that are going on right now. and so i just wondered, too, if in the media we couldn't glorify or something more on the invention side. that's a great thing to be able

to go to. they decided to focus on this whole stem thing. they developed a box which was to get people to sort of look at how you could do a little experiment. their view is, if we get people excited about science in kindergarten, that's what these business leaders did. >> tom, any thoughts about this, about unleashing the hidden tinkering talent? >> i think there's a culture change. i would agree with dominic, it's got to start early and k through 12 is the key to getting more interest in science and innovation at higher levels. i served on the national academy committee on a saturday morning sitting around the room with a table full of leading and two

things we had in common was gilbert chemistry set and we were lamenting the fact that it was out of there for safety reasons and the one thing we had in common was a high school teacher that made it exciting. if we can put excitement in the classroom, we'll get the kids at major universities. >> we had mayor daly at a dinner last night. he made the point before. it was so clear and lucid. that we're not teaching, you know, invention, manufacturing, any number -- from the early stage up we sort of lost that. we had this post industry

post-industrial. meaning no industry. minor problem. so you don't need to teach it. i really am struck by a lot of sort of what has been added to the conversation here on both the policy front and on the contextual front. last question and then i can ask the floor. we've been -- and this builds on the question about vietnam and some of the southeastern economists. we've been working with a set of u.s. metropolitan areas on trying to both enhance advanced manufacturing and services but also begin to engage with the international markets. and our next panel is here so this is going to be short. in the same way, in the graduate, when someone comes up to dustin hoffman and says plastics, you know, bricks,

sivetss we've got names for the emerging markets and developing economies. and the united states, unlike any other country, we have many immigrants here who relate back to these countries. so if you're thinking about interplay of invention commerce lie zags, prototyping, production, and exports, the answer will be, i have to understand what the sector is before we end up talking about country and trading partner before they can really engage with. but out of all of those acronyms, are we sort of missing sort of the next group of emerging markets? are we focused too much on the big ones and therefore missing so many opportunities in the next tier? what's your view on that and then we'll close? >> well, i think there's -- again, someone said before 95% of the consumers are outside.

on one plug i would like to make for is africa and nigeria. nigeria will have more babies born than all of europe combined this year. so i would be africa and food. >> fantastic. that's great. that's good. >> yeah. i would say for us, brick has been more brick than brick. but i was going to go exactly where dominic went and that was africa. and it's time to lay the groundwork for what is going to happen. >> well, as the bris tissue would say, we're going to have a march of the makers in the united states and the prior two panels helped to illuminate how to do that and now i am going to turn it over seamlessly to my colleague, darryl west.

thank you very much. >> thank you.

book tv is live. coverage starts at 9:30 eastern with tom claven. followed at 10:35 and what it's like to go to the war. and then the changing of the palestinian conflict. part of a three-day president's weekend on c-span 2's book tv. secretary of state hillary clinton says the u.s. is evaluating a letter from iran

that states a desire to resume talk on the nuclear program. speaking to reporters along with european representative katherine ashton, secretary clinton called the letter an important step. her comments today were about 15 minutes. well, good morning. it's always a pleasure to welcome my friend and colleague of the european union here to washington. we always have a lot to discuss and we are always relying on each other because, as i said in noon nick a few weeks ago, it

remains america's partner of first resort on all of the global challenges we are confronting together. i know that kathy understands the significance of our cooperation because she and i have had the opportunity to meet on many occasions in the last several years. and we again today had a very comprehensive discussion let me quickly return to some of the issues. we are very grateful to lady ashton for her leadership on p-5 plus one, the international community has been looking to run to demonstrate. it is prepared to come to the table in a serious and construction way.

we have been reviewing and consulting closely between us and our other p 5 plus 1 partners. the response from the iranian government is one we've been waiting for and if we do proceed, it will have to be a sustained effort that can produce results. turning to syria, in once again condemning in the strongest possible terms. the ongoing violence perpetrated by the regime. i also want to extend on behalf of myself and our government our sympathies to the family of anthony shadid and the new york times for his untimely death. he was somebody i always turned to and read very closely and if i didn't have the time, when i got to the press reporting, i

would put it aside and read it because he had his pulse on what was happening. yesterday an overwhelming national nap consensus that the bloody assaults must end. the regime in damascus, however, appears to be escalating its assaults on civilians and those suffering cannot get access to the assistance that they need and deserve. so we will keep working to pressure and isolate the regime to support the opposition and provide relief to the people of syria. i will be attending the frnds of syria conference in tunisia next week where a number of nations will work to intensify pressure and we also hope to coordinate efforts to enable a syrian-led

transition before the regime's actions tear the country apart. we're looking for an inclusive democratic process. ultimately, our shared values between the u.s. and the eu are the bedrock of our cooperation. and we are promoting those values together. we also discussed the situation in the balkins. we share the view that it lies with the european union and the united states strongly supports the dialogue that the eu is leading to try to advance euro integration for both serbia and kosovo. both sides are being asked to remain flexible and open to compromise. we have a very long list of what we discussed but i'll just end

it there and turn it over to lady ashton with my appreciation for her leadership and the great partnership we have. >> well, first of all, can i say what a pleasure it is to be back here and to be meeting and working as closely as i do with you. it is extremely significant that we're meeting today because we meet on the back of having received a letter from iran and in response to my letter from october. as you said, we are analyzing closely what this letter would mean. let me say that i think it's good to see that the letter has arrived and that there is a potential possibility that iran may be ready. we'll continue to discuss and make sure that what we're looking at is substantive subst

i'm cautious and optimistic at the same time for this. it also demonstrates the importance of the twin-track approach. that the pressure that we have put on together, the sanctions that have been put there because that's a responsibility of the international community, i believe i have it has an effect, but we have caused one to resolve this through talks. as you said, the situation in syria is a cause for enormous concern, and we feel extremely worried about the level of violence and terror that is happen ing within that country. we've been very clear that president assad should stand aside and enable a process that would bring the people of syria together, all of them, an inclusive process that could take the country forward. i want to commend the work of the secretary-general of the arab league who has shown great

leadership in bringing together the arab community, but in coordination working closely with the international community to demonstrate that inclusivity and to demonstrate the leadership on the ground. i hope that the meeting next week will give us a chance to consider how we can support humanitarian efforts especially, and i will be working wh u.n., the oic and arab league as we did through the situation on libya on the humanitarian side of the challenges that we face. the international consensus to try and see the situation in syria end. as you said, there are hundreds of things on our agendas at all times, and we keep in constant touch so we can deal with only some of them at every meeting. the situation in serbia kosovo, of course, is very important to the european union, because you do believe as you say the future

lies in the european unit. the team at the moment are working closely together to try and support both into their future. i hope that both will be able to work on the plan that we've got to them that will enable serbia to become a candidate and enable kosovo to move forward with visas, with trade, with economic support, and eventually to see its future as well with the european union. thank you. >> madam secretary, lady ashton, thank you. the iranian letter refers to a readiness for dialogue, talks at the earliest possibility, and also significantly no preconditions in it for those talks. yet, you seem somewhat hesitant to embrace this. is it that you think the letter is not sincere, and what more do you need to see before you coul

you see for those talks to begin? thank you. >> first, as i think we both have said, we are evaluating the response. our unity within the p-5 plus 1 has been absolutely critical in dealing with iran in the past. it remains so going guard. it takes time to consult and to do so in a thorough manner. so we need to give time to our partners in the p-5 plus 1 process to do their own evaluation, but we've been clear about two things that i want to stress. first, as outlined in kathy's october letter to iran, any conversation with iran has to begin with the discussion of its nuclear program and iran's response to kathy's letter does

appear to acknowledge and accept that. second, we must be assured that if we make a decision to go forward, we see a sustained effort by iran to come to the table, to work until we have reached an outcome that has iran coming back into compliance with their international obligations. we're evaluating all the factors, but i think it's fair to say and, of course, i'll let kathy speak for herself that we think this is an important step, and we welcome the letter. >> yeah. i mean, exactly. we see the things that you have seen in the letter. no preconditions and recognition of what we'll be talking about. the next question really is to look at then where we left off in istanbul, and you'll recall

that we put out in istanbul a series of options for confidence-building measures, things iran could do to help us move forward with the talks. things the inspectors would be allowed to do, for example. we also said at that time they could come forward with their own ideas about what they wanted to do so this was a genuine open process. so for us th is also about thinking through, okay, where did you leave off? where do we need to go next? if we start the talks, we want to sustain them. therefore, we need to set and train the process whereby we can be clear what it is we need to achieve and what we're expecting from the iranians. that's what we're in the process of doing right now. >> when we were talking in istanbul, there were two sets of issues. one, the confidence-building i've described and the other was support the tiara and the

nuclear program. that's been as acknowledged by the iranians recently. that's what we offered, support on civil nuclear power. >> good morning. a question to you both, p if i may. i wonder what your message is today to the embattled residents of homs and other syrian cities. wouldn't be more honest to say you're on your own? the u.n. security council is paralyzed? there were no good western diplomatic options? don't expect our help? >> i'm not sure that would be an honest response. i think the honest response is to say this. we are absolutely clear that president assad should stand aside. you cannot kill your own people. you cannot be a leader and call this leadership. secondly, that we want to try to work as close as we can with everyone who is willing to engage in support of the humanitarian needs of people. we've supported the arab league in its quest to try to put people on the ground, to try and monitor the situation.

as you know, there are discussions going on between the u.n. and arab league about how to go forward in the future. the honest response is we need to do everything we possibly can to help. >> i think that's absolutely right. we have marshalled the great weight of international opinion against the assad regime. the vote yet in the general aassembly was overwhelming. so i do want the people of ear ya to understand and believe that there are tens of mills of people around the world who are seized with the terrible situation they find themselves in. and we have not been deterred by the vetoes in the security council. we are moving forward with the friends of syria. they are not being abandoned.

we are doing all we can to determine ways to forward, to strengthen the opposition, to help them convey to the entire syrian population that they are seeking an inclusive, peaceful, democratic transition and that those who are fearful of the future, which is understandable, whether they be sunni, christian, drews, kurd or any other syrian, have to come together to establish a credible opposition that can then serve as their voice in dealing with the regime and dealing with the outside. so i think we have to be humble. this takes a large dose of humility to say that we don't

have all the answers and we cannot even imagine the terrible experiences that people are going through with their children and their grandparents under such assault. we're doing whatever we can to it try to help pave the way toward a better future for syria. thank you all very much. have a good weekend. tinchts this is c-span3 with politics and public affairs programming throughout the week and every weekend 48 hours of people and events telling the american story on american history tv