About the Fact of the Week
Each week, ITIF publishes a fact about innovation in our newsletter. Here you will find an archive of previously featured facts.
Featured Fact of the Week
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A series of McKinsey Global Institute reports find that a lack of innovation and productivity growth in four critical sectors--education, health care, government, and national infrastructure--are holding back broader economic growth. McKinsey's 2009 report, The Economic Impact of the Achievement Gap in America's Schools, finds that the educational achievement gap between the United States and its...
If federal R&D investment had been sustained at the 1960-1980 level, in terms of an average share of GDP, these investments would be approaching $230 billion annually today, rather than the current levels of roughly $150 billion. Our robust investment in R&D in the 1960s, 70s and 80s fueled our post-war prosperity and helped set the stage for the IT revolution, advances in biotech and...
Information and communications technology (ICT) constitutes one of the global economy's most important industries. In fact, global value-added by ICT industries more than doubled from $1.2 trillion in 1995 to $2.8 trillion in 2010, and today the ICT industry accounts for 6 percent of global GDP. ICT industries also account for a similar share of employment; for example, in 2010, ICT industries...
If we want to emerge more vigorously from the recent recession and loosing the race for global innovation and competitiveness, we need to commit to investing in the "four Ts" of innovation: trade, taxes, technology and talent. Investing in talent means more than simply spending more money. It requires rethinking how students learn and how to best nurture their talents and interests. As important...
The understanding that the most important goal in economic development is attracting out-of-state business establishments is flawed. As such, less attention is given to helping existing firms grow and helping new firms start up. In the New Economy, entrepreneurship is much more important than firm attraction is to economic success. Consider the fact that the number of industrial manufacturing...
The general perception of the construction industry productivity is declining -0.6 % per year (+1.8% per year non-farm productivity increase; significant improvement in some work processes). There has been much debate over the root cause of this decline. It can almost certainly be attributed to underinvestment in construction R&D, a shift in output mix, and slow growth in capital/worker ratio...
For the past thirty years, computing has been at the heart of the global innovation revolution, creating entire new industries, transforming existing industries into productive powerhouses, and changing the face of culture across the globe. Computing is driving innovation in existing fields of science and creating entirely new ones. Underlying this revolution is the discipline of computer science...
Low PISA (Program of International Student Assessment) scores and other international metrics are often drawn upon to highlight the United States' lackluster standing in higher education rankings. However, what is not discussed often enough is that the U.S. education system isn't just poor--it's getting worse. Between 1999 and 2008 the number of college-aged adults (25-34) with tertiary degrees...
The controversial idea that the Internet, while important, has not fundamentally altered the global economy or produced very much economic growth has generated a lot of debate this year. The McKinsey Global Institute provides additional evidence to counter this idea. In addition to the GDP and job growth, the report also finds that the Internet is associated with a 10 percent increase in...
Some economists argue that the decline in manufacturing is not a big deal because the future of the U.S. economy rests with services. They contend the decline in manufacturing does not constitute a deleterious threat to the U.S. economy. But a competitive manufacturing sector remains essential for U.S. prosperity. A principal reason is that manufacturing accounts for 57 percent of U.S. exports....
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