Are U.S. Innovators Losing Their Competitive Edge? – New York Times

Are U.S. Innovators Losing Their Competitive Edge? – New York Times

Inventors have always held a special place in American history and business lore, embodying innovation and economic progress in a country that has long prized individual creativity and the power of great ideas. In recent decades, tinkerers and researchers have given society microchips, personal computers, the Internet, balloon catheters, bar codes, fiber optics, e-mail systems, hearing aids, air bags and automated teller machines, among a bevy of other devices.

Mr. West stands firmly in this tradition – a tradition that he said may soon be upended. He fears that corporate and public nurturing of inventors and scientific research is faltering and that America will pay a serious economic and intellectual penalty for this lapse.

This is an issue I’ve been thinking about for quite some time: the structure of creativity and innovation in America. My wife recently had to read the article version of Thomas I. Friedman’s book The World Is Flat, which as I understand (I need to read this one) explains the consequences of outsourcing in a global networked economy. If anyone actually read this blog, they would know that I am concerned with the creative process… this article does a great job of explaining some of the structural components of innovation in Corporate America.

While I’ve never worked in any creative capacity in a corporation, I’ve often wondered about how much R&D is being fostered in organizations which are so focused in the short-term bottom line. It seems to me that if innovation is not supported in a focused way, we put ourselves (as a society) at risk for stagnating or “resting on our laurels.” If intelligence or jobs can now be moved anywhere in the world, what are we left with in American society. I would like to think that we have, and still can, corner the market in creativity and innovation.

In the end, it’s all about progress.