On stimulating productivity in the U.S.: The need to encourage innovation is broadly supported, and a program is sought

Technological innovation is the application of the industrial arts and sciences, along with the human intellect, to change the way society creates its goods and services, or the very nature of those goods and services. Despite the fact that technological innovation can secure large benefits for society, and that small businesses secure those benefits out of all proportion to their size, the rate of creation of small businesses in the United States has fallen dramatically over recent years. From 1964 to 1974, the number of new public issues for small high-technology companies dropped from $349 million to $6 million. Even more tragic is the fact that in the first half of 1975, there was not a single new issue for a small high-technology company.