You cannot manage what you cannot measure.

This fundamental economic principle, and the ramifications of what expanding globalization means for the United States and the world, was the topic of the Manatt-Philps Lecture in Political Science, presented by Frederick W. Smith, president and CEO of FedEx Corp.

During a glowing introduction by Jim McCormick, professor and chairman of political science, it was explained how Smith founded, in 1971, the overnight delivery company that has made him famous.

“I have a simple criteria for selecting speaking engagements, and it’s got to meet at least one, and preferably two, criteria. One of them is it’s strategically important for FedEx,” Smith said. “Two, that it offers significant new business opportunities for FedEx – I hope those of you in the audience will remember to ship FedEx.”

Smith jumped right into a statistical analysis of the current global market by saying that about 50,000 ocean containers arrive in the United States every day. Additionally, he said, another 25,000 truckloads come in from all over North America and airports bring in about 70 million pounds of freight daily.

“A similar scenario to what I just described with somewhat different statistics takes place in Europe, the Middle East and Latin America, creating a worldwide trading system that’s now about 14.7 trillion dollars a year,” Smith said.

He said the United States needs to focus on controlling its own resources and moving away from being dependent on the resources of other companies.

“Quite frankly, business is changing the world and because our world is changing quickly and unequivocally, the global marketplace is full of unprecedented opportunities,” he said. “We, in response, must be prepared to act on those opportunities.”

He said it was imperative to the continued economic stability and growth of the United States that we comprehend the forces “driving the global economy.”

He summarized the forces in four macroeconomic trends that he said applied to manufacturers and consumers worldwide.

The first, he said, was an increase in “high-tech and high-value goods.” These were basically any product that had a “high value-to-weight ratio.” He cited examples such as Apple’s iPod and automatic car door openers.

“An interesting statistic was one that the former chairman of the Federal Reserve, Alan Greenspan, noted many times,” he said. “The aggregate weight of the United States economic output has barely changed in the half-century since World War II ended, while the value of U.S. economic output in real terms has increased almost five-and-a-half times.”

The second trend is “the continuing inexorable connection of the world’s economy,” which is leading to an interdependent global economy.

“A friend commented recently that his daughter was wearing a global outfit,” he said. “Her jeans were made in Taiwan, her blouse was made in India, her jacket made in the Phillipines, her shoes in Argentina and her purse was made in the good old U.S.A.”

He said none of the smaller industries have “cornered the market on innovation,” so increasingly cheaper products are being manufactured all over the world. This has led to companies being able to streamline their services and cut costs because they can deliver products at lower prices.

He said the third and fourth trends were the “current adoption rate of fast-cycle logistics,” which has led to a high-speed turnaround on the manufacturing and sales of products and the “proliferation of e-commerce capabilities.”

Smith said the use of e-commerce has actually benefited business-to-business trading more than it has commercial trading, because companies are able to minimize the costs of trading valuable goods.

He recommended the United States become more globally viable by reducing its dependence on foreign energy, producing more fuel-efficient vehicles, expanding the supply of alternative fuels and having risk management plans in place for critical imports.

This, Smith said, would keep the U.S. competitive in the global marketplace, and ensure we are a leader in worldwide exports.