Thomas Kalil

California's strength in knowledge-intensive industries is so great that many policy-makers take it for granted. By some indicators, California has more top-ranked universities than Europe and Japan combined. It is also a world leader in transferring new knowledge from the lab to the marketplace, thanks to a skilled, entrepreneurial workforce and a heavy concentration of venture capital.

The result for decades has been a virtuous cycle of development in which the excellence of California's higher education system attracts more and… more

Unless California invests deeply in university research and its "knowledge-intensive" industries, its dominance as the world's high-tech powerhouse could be at risk.

California's strength in knowledge-intensive industries is so great that many policy makers take it for granted. After all, California hosts more top-ranked universities than Europe and Japan combined. It is also a world leader in transferring new knowledge from the lab to the marketplace, thanks to a skilled, entrepreneurial workforce and a heavy concentration of venture capital. The result for decades has been a virtuous cycle of development in… more

Last January, during a major policy address on science and technology, President Clinton proposed a new $500 million National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI). A nanometer is one-billionth … more

Although President Bush has yet to submit a detailed budget, the document that he released Feb. 28 shows that he plans to cut the research and development investments … more