Thread by @Noahpinion

Today's @bopinion is my review of @baselinescene and @jonathangruber1's new book, "Jump-Starting America", which you should absolutely read.

bloomberg.com/opinion/articl…

For too long, the discussion about "growth" in America has been hijacked by the right-wing types who say that slashing taxes and regulations is the way to produce growth.

This is bad, and it needs to change, and these economists are here to change it!!

amazon.com/Jump-Starting-…

The book is sort of an unofficial sequel to @MazzucatoM's excellent book "The Entrepreneurial State".
amazon.com/Entrepreneuria…

Gruber and Johnson are proposing how to bring back the entrepreneurial state in America.

Job #1 to bring back growth: A big increase in federal research spending.

Gruber and Johnson envision a string of new federally funded research parks, similar to Singapore's Biopolis or China's Zhongguancun. Each park would be located in an area with a stagnant economy but lots of potential - like Rochester, NY.

In my opinion, these parks - and science-based regional development in general - should be handled by an entirely new government agency. Call it the National Development Foundation, or NDF. It would work closely with the NSF and NIH.

It's a good idea, but there are lots of pitfalls. We don't want the parks becoming white elephants. And getting the government a direct return on its investment, through ownership of land or IP, will be tricky.

But as growth policies go, it's hard to imagine a better one.

Let's ditch the fantasy that "growth" means tax cuts or deregulation, and embrace Big Science once again.

(end)

bloomberg.com/opinion/articl…