Countries increasingly recognize that innovation drives long-term economic growth for nations throughout the world, but this realization has led to a fierce race for global advantage, as countries use whatever means at their disposal to incubate, grow, scale, and attract industries and enterprises in the highest-value added sectors of economic activity. It’s vital that the global economic system structures this competition around good innovation policies—such as investments in scientific research, education, and infrastructure—that produce win-win results for all countries, as opposed to ugly “innovation mercantilist” policies—such as localization barriers to trade, intellectual property theft, or unfair subsidies—that enable one nation and its enterprises to succeed at the expense of other competitors and nations in the global economy.
