Our Economic Cure? Innovation

Democrats and Republicans do have something in common: Both parties are wrong on how to resuscitate the flat-lining US economy, Michael Mandel argues in BusinessWeek. Tax cuts or increased government spending aren’t the cure. “Innovation is the best—and maybe the only—way the US can get out of its economic hole,” Mandel insists, adding that money alone isn’t enough.

He finds hope in the new field of innovation economics, which is looking for tangible ways to get results from investments in research and development. "One of the hottest areas in the field is the use of government aid to cultivate 'innovation clusters,' or collections of local companies and academic institutions working together to create new products and processes." If such ideas succeed, they will render partisan debates moot.
(More innovation stories.)