Report Provides Roadmap For Strengthening U.S. Competitiveness

(Newsroom America) -- The U.S Department of Commerce has delivered to Congress a comprehensive report on “The Competitiveness and Innovative Capacity of the United States.” The report serves as a call to arms, highlighting bipartisan priorities to sustain and promote American innovation and economic competitiveness.

The report makes three important findings:

* Federal investments in research, education and infrastructure were critical building blocks for American economic competitiveness, business expansion and job creation in the last century;

* Failures to properly invest in, and have comprehensive strategies for, those areas have eroded America’s competitive position; and,

* In a constrained budgetary environment, prioritizing support for these pillars is imperative for America’s economic future and will provide a strong return on investment for the U.S. taxpayer.

Speaking before an event at the Center for American Progress (CAP), Commerce Secretary and former CEO John Bryson highlighted the importance role innovation plays in the nation’s economy.

“This is a topic of pivotal importance,” Bryson said. “Our ability to innovate as a nation will determine what kind of economy – what kind of country – our children and grandchildren will inherit, and whether it’s a country that holds the same promise for them as it did for our parents and grandparents.”

The report was mandated as part of the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010, which was signed into law by President Obama in January last year.

The report addresses a diverse range of topics and policy options, including: tax policy; the general business climate in the U.S.; barriers to setting up new firms; trade policy, including export promotion; the effectiveness of federal research and development policy; intellectual property regimes in the U.S. and abroad; the health of the manufacturing sector; and science and technology education.

The full report, as well as additional resources, can be found online at www.commerce.gov/competes.