Josh Haner/The New York Times

Tom Friedman of the New York Times continues to present utterly persuasive arguments that show how out of touch Congress and the president are with the real world of 21st Century global economics.

In today’s column, Friedman writes about the “enormous gap” between what CEO’s needs are and what the Democrats and Republicans want to deliver.

Here are some excerpts:

“These CEOs rarely talk about ‘outsourcing’ these days. Their world is now so integrated that there is no ‘out’ and no ‘in’ anymore. In their businesses, every product and many services now are imagined, designed, marketed and built through global supply chains that seek to access the best quality talent at the lowest cost, wherever it exists. They see more and more of their products today as ‘Made in the World’ not ‘Made in America.’ Therein lies the tension. So many of ‘our’ companies actually see themselves now as citizens of the world.

“…Mike Splinter, the CEO of Applied Materials, has put it to me this way: ‘Outsourcing was 10 years ago, where you’d say, ‘Let’s send some software generation overseas.’ This is not the outsourcing we’re doing today. This is just where I am going to get something done. Now you say, ‘Hey, half my Ph.D.s in my R&D department would rather live in Singapore, Taiwan or China because their hometown is there and they can go there and still work for my company.’ This is the next evolution.’”

Friedman adds one huge X-factor when Americans contemplate this world of integration and collaboration where innovation and the speed of logistics is key: