Is American innovation sputtering? The data suggests so: productivity growth in the US, which is powered by innovation, has been decelerating. Total factor productivity grew substantially in the middle of the 20th century, but started slowing in 1970.…
Data from the National Science Foundation indicate that US investment in science has steadily increased between 1970 and 2010, as measured by dollars spent (up 5X), number of PhDs trained (2X) and articles published (7X). Why is there little productivity growth? Probably today’s science is simply not as groundbreaking as before.
