America's Innovation shortfall...Can it be?

I see this as only about 5% of the problem. Actually a bigger problem related to this is that the labor force can't keep up with the innovations that exist already. All the ads notwithstanding, one need only read all the complaints about dealing with and living with today's technology. Often we find it is just not worth the hassle until companies get their technology foolproof. Help desks, no matter in which country they answer the phone, are less helpful every day that goes by.

A recent article in the The Atlantic (May 2009) The Quiet Coup , IMHO represents 80%, if not 100% of today's reality. The article suggests that we are on our way to becoming a banana republic. The causes of the downturn presented in this article by Simon Johnson, a professor at MIT’s Sloan School of Management, and former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund during 2007 and 2008, give more insight into the seeds of the recent downturn in our economy than the simple explanation in the Businessweek video.