In this article found in today’s New York Times, author Steve Lohr comments on government innovation. He refers to the Institute for Large Scale Innovation, started by former Harvard professor John Kao a few months ago to “support development and coordination of worldwide innovation capability.”
It points to the newly created UK Department of Business Innovation and Skills, an innovation panel in Australia, and discusses the link between India’s National Innovation Foundation and the $2,000 car - the Nano.
Lohr notes that free market capitalists may not agree with “government meddling in decisions best left to the marketplace.” While it is true that government attempts to spur or direct innovation in a particular direction, instead of letting the marketplace decide, can have questionable results, surely these government actions are better than no action at all.