You’re part of the first generation to grow up in the digital age. Some of you grew up with cell phones tucked into your book bags, while others can remember the early days of landline, dial-up internet. You』ve gone from renting movies on VHS tapes to purchasing and downloading them in a matter of minutes.
Today, more of you are earning college degrees than ever before — and more young people from low-income families are getting a shot at higher education than previous generations. Along with having higher education levels, you』ve got a lower gender pay gap than other generations — and we’re working to close it even further. Take all those things together, and it’s no surprise that entrepreneurship is in your DNA. One survey found that more than half of Millennials expressed interest in starting (or have already started) their own business.
So here’s something we know for certain: Your rising generation of Americans isn’t just adapting to a 21st-century economy. You’re actively changing it.
And we know that when we invest in your potential, rather than stack the deck in favor of the folks who are already at the top, our entire economy does better. It’s the reason we』ve expanded grants, tax credits, and loans to help more families afford college. It’s why we’re giving nearly 5 million Americans the chance to cap student loan payments at 10 percent of their income. And thanks to the Affordable Care Act, the number of uninsured young adults has fallen by nearly 40 percent over the past four years.
You may have graduated into the worst recession since the Great Depression, but today — for all the challenges you』ve already faced, and after all the grueling work it’s taken to bounce back — you’re in the best position to break into the newest sectors of the new American economy.
Your generation is going to continue to shape that economy for decades to come — and that’s exactly why we know we have more work to do to address the challenges you still face. That means making student loan payments even more affordable. It means investing in the kind of basic research that led to the internet and GPS technology to help our next generation of American companies succeed. And at a time when increased investments in education have meant that young women are making the strongest start in the workforce of any generation before them, it means fighting to make sure they get the equal pay for equal work they deserve.
Let’s talk for a second about this new American economy — one marked by new industry and commerce, humming with new energy and new technology, and being driven forward by highly skilled, higher-wage workers. Our medical professionals are part of a workforce that also includes folks who are developing cutting-edge software to help us diagnose diseases. We’re not just punching in and pounding rivets — we’re coding computers and guiding robots. In this new economy, an entrepreneur can start a new business and succeed, an older worker who sees opportunity in a new field has resources available to retool for that new job, and a student can graduate from college with the chance to advance through a vibrant job market.
Today, I’m heading to a place that’s helping to shape that economy. It’s called Cross Campus — a collaborative space in Los Angeles that brings together folks at the cutting edge of a technology revolution, from investors and entrepreneurs to designers and engineers. Because their drive and talent don’t just boost their businesses, they boost our entire economy — and the innovative ideas that they’re coming up with are helping to power our recovery.
Think about this: Last month, our businesses created 236,000 new jobs. Over the past 55 months, they』ve created 10.3 million new jobs — the longest uninterrupted stretch of private-sector job creation in our history. That’s why, for the first time in more than six years, the unemployment rate is below 6 percent. We’re on pace for the strongest year of job growth since the 1990s. Since we emerged from the crisis, America has put more people back to work than Europe, Japan, and every other advanced economy combined.
So for all the challenges in the world, there are some really good things going on here at home. And the reason I’m heading to Cross Campus today is because innovation is one of them. Technologies that didn’t exist 20 years ago, from mobile apps to streaming video to social networks, support millions of American jobs today. Today, our tech sector is the envy of the world.
And the innovation fueling this economy isn’t just happening in Silicon Valley. From Kansas City to Colorado to L.A.’s 「Silicon Beach,」 entrepreneurs are turning great ideas into great companies.
I saw this new economy at Pittsburgh’s TechShop, one in a chain of community centers where members get access to professional tools, equipment, and software, as well as the space they need to make or design or prototype almost anything — for the same price you』d pay for a gym membership.
I saw this new economy at a factory in Austin, where workers are building the equipment that makes cutting-edge microchips. It was just a few years ago that the very first iPhone was introduced, and we were all marveling over touch screens. Now, even our coffee shops have touch-screen ordering systems, and there are American workers punching in every day to manufacture the hardware for our smartphones and tablets.
And I saw this new economy only a few miles from that factory, at Manor New Tech High School. Students there focus on STEM subjects, and I got to see some of their work up close — from using mathematical equations to build musical instruments, to running bungee-jumping tests using rubber bands and weights, to building robots. At Manor New Tech, nearly all of the students graduate, and along with their diploma, they』ve earned real-world skills they need to fill the jobs we know are available right now.
I』ve seen what your generation is capable of firsthand. And one of the reasons I’m so confident about America’s future is that I’m confident in you — a generation that’s more educated, diverse, and digitally fluent than any before you.
Throughout my time in office, my Administration has bet on American innovation. We』ve bet on America’s young people. And today, I’m betting that you』ll continue unleashing new ideas and new enterprises for decades to come.
歐巴馬總統2014年10月9日在新媒體Medium網站發布文章，暢談在網際網路中成長的新一代年輕人將如何塑造美國未來的經濟模式，全文如下：
你們是在數字時代成長起來的第一代人的一部分。你們很多人從小書包裡就裝著手機，有些人可能還記得以前的撥號上網。你們經歷了從租錄像帶到僅僅花上幾分鐘就買下或下載好這些影片。
如今，你們中取得大學學歷的比以往要多很多——並且相對於前幾代人，更多的來自低收入的年輕人拿到了高學歷。你們這個年代性別收入差距也比其他年代低——且我們致力於進一步的縮小。綜上所述，你們的基因裡充滿著企業家精神並不奇怪。調查顯示超過一半的千禧一代有興趣或已經開始創業。
因此目前我們已明確知道：你們這一代美國人不是去適應21世紀的經濟。你們將積極的改變它。我們知道與其暗中布局支持那些已經處於頂端的人，不如挖掘你們的潛力，為我們開創更好的經濟局面效果來得好。這也是為什麼我們提高津貼、抵稅額和貸款，幫助更多的家庭的孩子上大學。這也是為什麼我們為什麼給予近500萬的美國人機會，以他們收入的10%繳納學生貸款。多虧了《平價醫療法案》（Affordable Care Act），缺乏醫療保障的年輕成年人在過去四年降低了近40%。
你們可能慢慢進入自美國大蕭條時期起最蕭條的一個階段，但是今天你們處於最佳位置擠進美國新經濟的最新部門——由於你們已然面對的種種挑戰，以及勞累工作後的是該到重新振作的時候。
在未來的幾十年，你們這一代將繼續塑造著我們的經濟——這也是我們為什麼清楚的知道我們還需付出更多的努力解決當下面對的種種挑戰。這就意味著讓更多的人負擔得起學生助學貸款。這意味著投資基礎研究可以促進網際網路和GPS技術幫助美國下一代公司取得成功。並且當我們增加教育方面的投入，這就意味著如今的年輕女性正比以往任何一代更具實力地開始投入工作。這也意味著我們要正確確保她們得到自己應有的公平收入。
我們談一談美國的新經濟——一個重要特徵就是新型工商業，涵蓋新能源和新技術，在高技能的高新員工驅動下不斷發展。我們的醫療職業技術人員也包括發明前沿技術軟體的工作人員，幫助我們診斷疾病。我們不只是上班打卡，然後敲打鉚釘——我們是在電腦裡編碼，指揮機器人。在這新經濟發展過程中，一名企業家能夠創業並取得成功；一名能看到這新領域的機會的老員工，有資源進行重組以適應新工作；一名大學畢業生能擠進充滿活力的就業市場。
今天，我將要去一個能夠塑造新經濟的地方。它名叫十字校園——這是一個雲集著來自各技術革命前沿技術人員的位於洛杉磯的合作機構，人員有投資者和企業家，也有設計家和工程師。他們的推進力和才能不僅僅促進他們各自的企業，而是促進我們整個經濟發展——並且他們想出的創新理念也能為我們經濟復甦提供支撐。
思考一下以下現象：九月份，我們的企業創造了23.6萬個就業職位。在過去的55個月裡，他們已經創造了1030萬就業職位——我們歷史上延續時間最長的私營企業創造就業崗位。這也是為什麼超過六年來我們的失業率能夠首次低於6%。我們也將步入20世紀90年代以來就業崗位創造最快年代。自經濟危機出現後，美國公民重新就業的人數比歐洲、日本以及其他發達經濟聯合體要多得多。
儘管當今世界存在種種挑戰，但是國內還是上演著許多好事。今天我要去十字校園的原因之一是創新。20年前，沒有科技。從移動應用軟體到流媒體再到社交網絡，支撐了當今美國千千萬萬的工作。如今我們的高科技板塊令世人羨慕不已。
創新推動經濟不僅僅局限於矽谷（Silicon Valley）中。從堪薩斯城（Kansas City）到科羅拉多（Colorado），再到洛杉磯的「矽谷海灘」（Silicon Beach），企業家們把偉大的想法變成偉大的公司。我在匹茲堡（Pittsburgh）的技術工坊看到這種新經濟，這是位於社區活動中心的一個技術工坊，它的成員可以使用專業的工具、設備和軟體，並且擁有他們需要製造、設計或還原各種東西的空間——這一切他們只需支付與健身俱樂部會員卡相同的費用。
我在奧斯丁（Austin）的一家工廠看到這種新型經濟，他們的工人生產製造前沿微晶片的設備。在幾年前剛剛引入蘋果手機時，我們驚嘆觸控螢幕的奇妙。如今，就連咖啡店都有觸控螢幕的點餐系統，且美國職工每天上班加工製造智慧型手機和平板電腦的硬體。
我就在那家工廠的幾英裡之外的馬諾新技術高中看到這種新經濟。那裡的學生專注於STEM科目學習，我看到他們的一些工作逐漸發展緊密——從運用數學方程式建造樂器，到使用橡皮筋和砝碼進行頂端測驗，再到製造機器人。在馬諾新技術高中，幾乎所有學生可以順利畢業，他們不但可以獲得畢業證書，更可以學到滿足目前工作需要的技能。
我已看到你們這一代實踐能力。我對美國未來如此自信的原因之一是我對你們這一代充滿自信——一個比以往任何一帶更有學識、更多樣化和更數字流利的一代。
在我在職期間，政府以創新為依託。我們將希望寄托在美國年輕人身上。今天，我打賭你們在未來的幾十年將繼續不斷想出新思路並成就更多的企業。
（譯者 sunflower1020 編輯 Julie）