Strategies for Economic Growth and Progress

Excerpted from Politico.com
Caroline Joiner
Vice President, Global Intellectual Property Center
U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Inventors, scientists, and researchers have been at the core of America's success since the Founding Fathers enshrined intellectual property (IP) protection in the Constitution, which states, "To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries." America's global innovation leadership has stemmed from this fundamental principle—protecting IP encourages new ideas and advances. In 2006, the United States led the world in global patent filings, bolstered by industry investing more than $223 billion in research and development. America's IP-intensive industries today account for 18 million jobs, which are expected to grow faster over the next decade than the national average.

However, IP rights are under attack by the $600 billion global counterfeiting and piracy enterprise built by organized crime and by those who refuse to recognize the importance of incentivizing innovation.

The president recently signed legislation to strengthen civil and criminal IP laws, increase law enforcement resources, and improve coordination in the executive branch for IP enforcement. Protecting America's innovation advantage, however, doesn't end here. Trade policies must include strong measures that safeguard innovation, and the U.S. government must work with our allies abroad to discourage and defeat anti-innovation policies like the compulsory licensing of medicines and weakened patent rights on environmental technology.

Excerpted from Politico.com

Ed Paisley
Vice President for Editorial
Center for American Progress Action Fund

To ensure that the United States remains an innovation superpower in the 21st century, the 44th president must increase federal funding for research and development (R&D) and strengthen incentives for private sector investment in R&D-especially in university-focused regional centers of innovation.

Federal investment in many key disciplines has declined as a percentage of gross domestic product over the past eight years. Currently, agencies can fund only a fraction of the high-quality proposals that they receive. Over the next 10 years, the federal government should provide 7% to 10% annual increases in the budgets of the key science agencies.

Increased research funding should augment the core disciplinary programs of science agencies and also be targeted to multidisciplinary initiatives that respond to national priorities and emerging opportunities, especially the swift push toward a low-carbon economy. But the next president and Congress should set broad goals and then rely on the scientific and technical communities to identify the most promising research directions. Taking these steps will require new budgetary outlays in a challenging fiscal environment. But unlike the corporate tax cuts of the Bush years, which did little except swell the deficit, investments in science and technology will foster innovation and power growth, spawning new businesses, creating new jobs, and ensuring that America retains its leadership in the competitive world economy.