In the global economy, innovation is a public good. When one country creates and markets new technologies, products, services or ways of doing business, the whole world tends to. Similarly, when it comes to the kinds of public policies that help shape innovation, no country is an island, writes Stephen Ezell in The Globalist. The decisions that one makes can affect all the others, for good or ill. In a first-of-its kind study, ITIF assessed 56 countries—which together account for about 90 percent of the global economy—on the extent to which their economic and trade policies contribute to and detract from global innovation. Regardless of where individual nations fall, the world is not producing as much innovation as is possible—or as is needed. For that reason, global policymakers, economists and pundits should give innovation as much importance as trade in optimizing global economic growth and welfare.
