Can Washington Power Up American Inventiveness?

Will the next economic recovery be a jobs-producing boom like the 1990s, or an employment bust, as many economists now fear? The answer will largely come down to the state of small business, the source of nearly all net job growth in the U.S. economy for decades.

So what can Washington do now to open up new opportunities for America's cutting-edge entrepreneurs? The answer is, plenty. In fact, it is at times of crisis that presidents have the most political leeway to make the bold moves that lead to future growth. Lincoln built the transcontinental railroad during the Civil War. FDR extended electric power throughout the nation in the midst of the Great Depression. These projects transformed American life, making possible huge gains in productivity and the creation of whole new industries. They were the platforms of growth in their day. It's time we built the platforms that are right for our day--from high-speed broadband to a universal health care system that gives entrepreneurs the safety net they need to take risks.

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[Thinker4Life]

I agree with chuck's question... Alot of these companies only care about finding a way to charge for the energy rather then just releasing the technology to the population...

[exenrontexas]

I worked for ENRON before Ken Lay and in the mid eighties they worked on various remote sensing of natural gas pipeline pressure and operability. Many compressor stations are unmanned and run from a centralized gas control dept. This was done 24 years ago and I cannot imagine that the electric industry is that far behind. One of the problems was communications to remote sites with no phone, net or radio service. Satellite was far too expensive. They ended using some meteor burst technology.

[BeantownJim]

Washington couldn't even power up a sex toy!