Growing animus toward “Big Tech” companies and generalized opposition to technological innovation engenders support for policies that are expressly designed to inhibit it. That is deeply problematic for future progress, prosperity, and competitiveness.

A Policymaker’s Guide to the “Techlash”—What It Is and Why It’s a Threat to Growth and Progress

China’s subsidy-aided rise to dominance in PV manufacturing has driven prices way down, but at the cost of undermining promising alternative technological pathways. Policymakers should adopt measures to sustain greater diversity in PV and similar technologies.

The Impact of China’s Production Surge on Innovation in the Global Solar Photovoltaics Industry

Chinese high-speed rail firm CRRC is less innovative than European and Japanese firms, but mercantilist policies help it dominate in China and expand globally. This starves superior firms of revenue, reduces their R&D, and slows the pace of global innovation.

Heading Off Track: The Impact of China’s Mercantilist Policies on Global High-Speed Rail Innovation

The United States is struggling to move innovative energy technologies from discovery to scale. This gap could put the climate and U.S. investments at risk. A nonprofit foundation working with the Department of Energy could help fill the gap.

Mind the Gap: A Design for a New Energy Technology Commercialization Foundation

Economic, trade, innovation, and global value chain (GVC) linkages between the United States and Taiwan are vitally important to both nations’ advanced technology industries and broader economies. Policymakers should work to deepen them.

The Evolution of Taiwan’s Trade Linkages With the U.S. and Global Economies

Expanding the 25-year-old trade agreement that eliminates tariffs on ICT goods would spur broad-based growth for countries that sign on, because lowering prices increases ICT adoption, which spurs productivity and innovation throughout the economy.

How an Information Technology Agreement 3.0 Would Bolster Global Economic Growth and Opportunity

Many say the decline in new business formation over the past 30 years has been caused by increased monopoly. But there is no statistical relationship between start-up creation and change in concentration by industry; high-growth start-up activity is healthy.

Monopoly Myths: Is Concentration Leading to Fewer Start-Ups?

Low profit margins keep many small businesses from investing in productivity-enhancing technology, which in turn holds down wages. To break that cycle, there should be a federal program that helps them reap economies of scale and scope by collaborating in areas such as R&D, investment, marketing, and health insurance purchases.

Small Business Boards: A Proposal to Raise Productivity and Wages in All 50 States and the District of Columbia

Pharmaceutical innovation accounted for 73 percent of the increase in life expectancy (approximately 1.73 years) in 30 developing and developed countries from 2000 to 2009, writes John Wu in Innovation Files.

Fact of the Week: Pharmaceutical Innovation Accounted for 73 Percent of the Increase in Life Expectancy in 30 Developing and Developed Countries From 2000 to 2009

Last week, the Bureau of Economic Analysis updated a recent paper on the digital economy to include more precise data, and it expanded the observed period to cover the years 1997 through 2017. In doing so, it found that the digital economy grew 9.9 percent annually over this 20-year period—4.3 times faster than the overall economy—and represented 6.9 percent of U.S. GDP as of 2017.

Fact of the Week: The Digital Economy Grew 4.3 Times Faster than the U.S. Economy Overall from 1997 to 2017

A new report by ITIF finds that the fact that U.S. workers are 16 percent more productive than EU-15 workers is largely attributable to Europe’s failure to invest in information and communications technologies (ICT), which drives labor productivity.

Fact of the Week: Labor Productivity in the U.S. is Higher than in the EU, Largely Due to ICT Investments

A new study has sought to quantify this impact, tracking the availability of drugs released after 1981 that are designed to treat 66 diseases across 27 countries.

Fact of the Week: Drugs Launched After 1981 Have Saved 149 million Years of Life

Labor productivity growth has slowed dramatically across the developed world in recent years. In the United States, it dropped to just 0.96 percent in the 10-year period from 2007 to 2017. That was down by more than half from 2.06 percent in the previous 10-year period.

Fact of the Week: The Digital Economy has Contributed to 86 Percent of U.S. Labor Productivity Growth in Recent Years Despite Accounting for Only 8.2 Percent of GDP

If the Sub-Saharan African mobile penetration rate could be brought up to 75 phones per 100 people, it would be possible for living standards to increase an average of 30 percent, writes John Wu in Innovation Files.

Fact of the Week: Living Standards In Sub-Saharan Africa Could Rise 30 Percent If Mobile Phone Penetration Rates Increased From 25 Phones Per 100 People To 75

When India and Indonesia adopted e-procurement for infrastructure projects, construction quality improved 16 percent on average, writes John Wu in Innovation Files.

Fact of the Week: Two-Thirds of US Adults Think the Government Should Encourage the Production of Wind and Solar Power

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