Last Updated on Friday, 8 January 2010 12:09 Written by dbhalling Friday, 8 January 2010 12:09

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According to the BBC article “Governments stifle hi-tech innovation, says trade group” , American believe innovation is critical to the US’s success as a world economic leader.  The article states:

The weakening financial markets meant that in 2009 America was overtaken as the most competitive economy by Switzerland.

As regular readers of this blog know, In my opinion since 2000 we have passed a number of laws and regulations that are killing innovation in the US.  The incredible innovation of the 90s was based on technology start-up companies built on intellectual capital, financial capital, and human capital.  All three of the pillars have been under attack since 2000.  Our patent laws have been weakened reducing the value of intellectual capital.  Sarbanes Oxley has made it impossible to go public reducing financial capital for start-ups and the FASB rules on stock options have made it harder to attract human capital to start-ups.  The Decline and Fall of the American Entrepreneur: How Little Known Laws and Regulations are Killing Innovation, explains these problems in more detail.