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Economic Theory

As nations engage in a race for global advantage in innovation, ITIF champions a new policy paradigm that ensures businesses and national economies can compete successfully by spurring public and private investment in foundational areas such as research, skills, and 21st century infrastructure. Our work in the realm of economic theory assesses the negative impact of conventional neo-Keynesianism and neoclassical economics on the 21st century economy and promoting “Innovation Economics” as a sounder alternative.

Robert D. Atkinson
Robert D. Atkinson

President

Information Technology and Innovation Foundation

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Stephen Ezell
Stephen Ezell

Vice President, Global Innovation Policy, and Director, Center for Life Sciences Innovation

Information Technology and Innovation Foundation

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Speed Up America, Slow Down China, or Both? The Key Strategic Question for the 21st Century

Speed Up America, Slow Down China, or Both? The Key Strategic Question for the 21st Century

The reality is that if America does not do both—speed itself up, and slow China down—then it will likely lose the techno-economic race in the advanced, traded-sector industries that are most strategically important for the country’s dual-use industrial base and national security.

The National Economic Council Gets It Wrong on the Roles of Big and Small Firms in U.S. Innovation

The National Economic Council Gets It Wrong on the Roles of Big and Small Firms in U.S. Innovation

A new White House report insinuates that small firms are America’s true innovators. Advancing this narrative makes it easier to advance an anticorporate antitrust agenda, including banning all mergers. However, scholarly studies and data do not support the administration’s premise.

More Publications and Events

December 19, 2024|Op-Eds & Contributed Articles

Book Review: “Marx in the Anthropocene: Towards the Idea of Degrowth Communism”

It isn’t often you read a book that advocates for arguably the two most evil, destructive ideas ever advocated: Marxist communism and economic degrowth. One would be bad. Both, as Tokyo University professor Kohei Saito advocates for, are truly horrific.

December 16, 2024|Blogs

Currency Trumps Tariffs

The president-elect is right to reject the consensus opinion in Washington that trade deficits don’t matter. But tariffs won’t solve the problem. The better solution is to drive down the value of the dollar and drive up domestic production in advanced industries.

November 18, 2024|Blogs

The Chief Business of America Once Again Must Be Business

Calvin Coolidge was right when he said, “the chief business of the American people is business.” We need to reembrace that ethos by making sure our social contract rewards companies that bring new innovations to market, boost productivity, fight like hell for global market share, and sustain as many high-value jobs at home as is economically feasible.

November 15, 2024|Blogs

Are You a “Marketist” or a “Producerist” on Economic Policy?

The dominant economic policy model of the post-war era has focused on the overall economy, markets, and prices, but not on the process by which entrepreneurs, firms, and industries use technology to boost growth and national power. Which is closer to your view?

November 12, 2024|Blogs

Making America Great Again Requires Putting Business and Tech Innovation First

It would be a shame if Republicans and moderate Democrats wasted this moment by reverting to Reagan-esque, neoliberal nostalgia or incremental reforms. Restoring economic strength will require taking some big swings at policies to advance business-driven innovation.

September 30, 2024|Blogs

Increasing Productivity Is Key to Generating Federal Revenue

Increasing labor productivity through the development and adoption of new technologies will drive economic growth and should not be ignored as a viable way to raise federal revenue and decrease the budget deficit.

August 12, 2024|Blogs

Compustat Data: A Misleading Measure of Corporate Market Power and Market Competition

Compustat data has three major limitations, which makes citing studies that use these datasets as evidence of rising concentration (or declining competition) problematic. Policymakers should focus on studies that use the official and much more comprehensive data from the Economic Census.

August 12, 2024|Blogs

Stagnation, Deindustrialization, and the Decline of Anglo-Saxon Economics

The dominant economic model of the post-war era has run its course. It’s time to embrace a new paradigm that focuses on enabling producers to succeed, especially in advanced, traded-sector industries.

August 5, 2024|Podcasts

Podcast: General-Purpose Technologies and the Rise of Great Nations, With Jeffrey Ding

It’s easy to get excited about new breakthroughs, but the real power lies in diffusing technological advances throughout the entire economy.

July 24, 2024|Op-Eds & Contributed Articles

“Green” Is Not an Economic Growth Strategy

Spurring the transition to clean energy is now widely viewed not just as the key to fighting climate change but also as the silver bullet to restoring economic growth. But it's not. They are separate goals that require separate policies, as Robert Atkinson writes in Research Money.

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