Skip to main content
Past Event

PhDs, Policies and Patents: Innovation and America’s Future

Innovation and invention drive the American economy, from the light bulb and mass production of automobiles to more recent advances like the smartphone and the coordinated effort to map the human genome. But what new breakthrough sciences and technologies are next on the horizon, and what role can U.S. policy play in creating a positive environment to promote innovative developments?

On Tuesday, June 28, The Hamilton Project at Brookings hosted a forum on the future of innovation in the United States – exploring the challenges to, and opportunities for, furthering advancements to create jobs and spur economic growth.

The forum drew on a wide-range of experts from around the country, including the director of the National Institutes of Health, two former U.S. Treasury Secretaries, one of the nation’s leading private investors in the technology industry, a co-chair of the President’s Advisory Board on Science and Technology, a MacArthur Foundation Genius Award winner, the Chief Technology Officer of the United States, the Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, and a group of prominent U.S. economists.

Following each of the panel discussions, the participants took audience questions.

Agenda

Welcome

Robert E. Rubin

Former U.S. Treasury Secretary

Co-Chair Emeritus - Council on Foreign Relations

Panel Discussion: The State of Scientific America

A

Angela Belcher

Professor of Materials Science Engineering and Biological Engineering, MIT

Panel Discussion: Obstacles and Opportunities for American Science and Innovation

T

Tim Bresnahan

Professor of Technology and the Economy, Stanford University

A

Aneesh Chopra

Co-Founder and Executive Vice President, Hunch Analytics

T

Tyler Cowen

Professor of Economics - George Mason University

Remarks on President Obama’s Regulatory Review Process

C

Cass R. Sunstein

Author, "The World According to Star Wars" - Robert Walmsley University Professor, Harvard Law School

Panel Discussion: A Path Forward –The Future of Innovation in the United States

E

Eric Lander

Founding Director of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard; Co-Chair of the President’s Advisory Board on Science and Technology

More Information

To subscribe or manage your subscriptions to our top event topic lists, please visit our event topics page.

Get a weekly events calendar from Brookings