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A few years ago, at one of the President’s Economic Summits, I was tasked with identifying the single best thing the United States had done to maintain its decades-long leadership in business expansion. After doing a fair amount of research, we decided the answer was “the next big thing.”
Innovation has been and will continue to be critical to the continued success of the U.S. economy. Whether it’s incremental improvements or breakthrough new discoveries, innovation is the engine that drives growth. The telegraph, the telephone, the cell phone, the smart phone, the light bulb, the cotton gin, the polio vaccine, the Internet, the airplane, the sewing machine, and countless other world-changing American inventions improved the quality of life and brought enormous economic benefits. I did.
Innovation doesn’t happen by chance. It comes from investing in the necessary infrastructure and environment that facilitates the commercialization of new ideas. The Global Innovation Index (GII), published by the World Intellectual Property Organization, examines 80 indicators related to innovation ecosystems. As usual, the United States ranked near the top in 2023, trailing only the much smaller countries Switzerland and Sweden. The UK and Singapore also made it into the top five.
The United States ranked first in 13 innovation metrics, ranging from software spending to venture capital to research and development (R&D). Many large US companies are leaders in corporate R&D spending, including Nvidia, Apple, Meta, Uber, Alphabet, Microsoft, Adobe, and General Motors. Additionally, higher education institutions in the United States are among the top spenders, as are many state and federal agencies (much of which is funded by federal sources).
Many advances directly or indirectly involve manufacturing. New technologies and processes are transforming facilities, increasing efficiency and revolutionizing production capacity. and innovations that have greatly enhanced our health (through better images, devices, and medicines), energy security (through advances that increase the production potential of various resources), and other aspects of our well-being. I can also thank you. Innovation can cause disruption that poses challenges, but it can also create opportunities. For example, increasing adoption of AI will reduce the need for certain types of workers, while at the same time creating new types of jobs, some of which we cannot yet imagine.
The only consistent path to continued economic success is innovation. The United States will never be a low-cost source for many products due to rising labor costs and concentrated capital. As a result, staying on the cutting edge of prosperity is essential. It has been the key to success for over a century and will continue to be so. Through education and enlightening policies that encourage innovation, businesses can thrive, American workers can enjoy greater prospects, and people around the world can benefit from lifesaving and world-changing advances. Sho. Stay safe!
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Dr. M. Ray Perryman is President and Chief Executive Officer of The Perryman Group (www.perrymangroup.com), which has served the needs of more than 3,000 customers over the past 40 years.
