Save U.S. innovation. "America needs a national agenda to ensure that the country remains the global leader in innovation," The Business Roundtable declares in a new study that finds the U.S. complacent in its longtime role as the world's innovation lab. While still tops in R&D spending—public and private spending hit a record $511 billion in 2016—the lead is shrinking relative to efforts by China and other competitors. Among its recommendations, the study calls upon the government to create initiatives that let companies focus on long-term growth over the short term, "a critical condition for undertaking long-term and often-uncertain R&D ventures," the report says.
Image: Alfredo Sosa, a robotics engineer with Diligent Robotics, walks behind the company's medical assistant robot, Moxi, in a hallway at the University of Texas Medical Branch's Jennie Sealy Hospital in Galveston, Texas, Jan. 21, 2019. PHOTO: STUART VILLANUEVA/ASSOCIATED PRESS
