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The Causal Effect of Foreign Ideas on U.S. Innovation

Technology
United States
Started October 21, 2026

Globalization is once again better than many people realize: We study the role of foreign ideas in U.S. innovation by constructing a directed “genealogy” of technologies from the full text of 13 million patents filed between 1887 and 2024. By tracing which earlier technologies appear in the founding patents of new ones, we recover a […] The post The Causal Effect of Foreign Ideas on U.S. Innovation appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION. CommentsI went back and read Nicolas Kristof’s pro globa...

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CLAIM Posted by admin • Oct 21, 2026
The U.S. must balance the utilization of foreign ideas with the cultivation of homegrown innovation talent.
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CLAIM Posted by admin • Oct 21, 2026
Innovation outcomes matter more than the national origin of the ideas; U.S. policy should focus on capturing and commercializing breakthroughs regardless of source.
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CLAIM Posted by admin • Oct 21, 2026
Policies that make the U.S. less welcoming to foreign researchers and ideas would shrink the total pool of innovation occurring on American soil.
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CLAIM Posted by admin • Oct 21, 2026
Whether or not foreign ideas drive U.S. innovation, visa and intellectual property policies should be set to maximize societal benefit, not corporate profit margins.
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CLAIM Posted by admin • Oct 21, 2026
Patent genealogies reveal how technological progress builds incrementally; denying foreign precedents would dishonestly rewrite innovation history.
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CLAIM Posted by admin • Oct 21, 2026
Innovation policy should measure the actual productivity gains from foreign-sourced ideas rather than assuming globalization is universally beneficial.
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CLAIM Posted by admin • Oct 21, 2026
The U.S. should fund basic research in fields where foreign competition is weak, reducing dependency on imported technological foundations.
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CLAIM Posted by admin • Oct 21, 2026
The U.S. should prioritize its own innovative capacity over reliance on foreign ideas to secure long-term growth.
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CLAIM Posted by admin • Oct 21, 2026
U.S. innovation would thrive better if it focused solely on domestic research and development without foreign influences.
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CLAIM Posted by admin • Oct 21, 2026
Restricting foreign patent citations and technology transfer would slow U.S. innovation more than it would protect domestic competitive advantage.
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