Trouble on 'The Endless Frontier': Science, Invention and the Erosion of the Technological Commons

Abstract

"At the dawn of the 21st century in the United States, our culture and economy are so steeped in an unqualified belief in the power of entrepreneurial innovation that, ironically, we tend to disregard the enormous investment previous generations have made toward the nations shared research infrastructure. We like to think that the inventions upon which we increasingly rely have sprung up like weeds. But the truth is that these inventions owe more than we often acknowledge to cultivation and the careful preparation of a seedbed."