David Brooks recently contributed an op-ed piece to the New York Times about the current state of America and how the future of the country relies on innovation. The economy is the largest in the world, and managed to grow 63% from 1991 to 2009.
He's set out a few simple things that can help America find they way to continued growth through innovation:
- Push hard to fulfill the Obama administration's education reforms
- Pay for basic research
- Rebuild the nation's infrastructure
- Find a fiscal exit strategy
- Gradually address global imbalances
- Loosen the so-called H-1B visa quotas to attract skilled immigrants
- Encourage regional innovation clusters
- Lower the corporate tax rate so it matches international norms
- Don't make labor markets rigid.
What do you think about these guidelines? Do you disagree with any of them? Innovative regional clusters would be really important. Innovative ideas from California would be radically different from ideas coming from Minnesota. But both areas can contribute significant ideas.