Tuesday, June 3, 2008

The Rise of the New Mercantalism

That's the title of a two part essay (part I, part II) by Robert Atkinson of the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation (ITIF). From the intro to the series:

With the balance of trade shifting from multinational corporations to large emerging markets — such as China and India — some nations have been tempted to turn to unfair practices to gain a trade advantage. As Robert D. Atkinson explains, these mercantilist practices are taking over knowledge- and technology-based industries.

Does this qualify as another barrier to successful innovation?

Update: Here is Atkinson's testimony to the Senate Finance Committee on this topic ("Combating Unfair Trade Practices in the Innovation Economy.")