Editorial Reviews -
The Venturesome Economy
Reihan Salam - Forbes.com
Brilliant.
Kirk Shinkle - U.S. News & World Report
Innovation everywhere is a boon to America. That's the argument from [Bhidé] who sees hidden value in America's unique ability to integrate and consume big new ideas, no matter where they're spawned.
Diana Furchtgott-Roth - New York Post
Meticulously researched, clearly written and based on interviews with chief executive officers, the book offers a ground-breaking and counter-intuitive view of innovation and globalization.
BusinessWeek
[Bhidé] provides a provocative, counterintuitive case as to why the U.S. should support the training of foreign workers and research activities by foreign companies. Why? American companies can benefit, he says—pointing out, for example, that many of the acclaimed features on the iPod were actually developed abroad.
Susan Froetschel - YaleGlobal Online
Bhidé busts some common misconceptions of innovation: Fewer PhDs do not necessarily mean less innovation. Subsequent applications, rather than an initial invention, spur prosperity and radical social change. Increased proportions of college graduates in a society may not necessarily herald economic benefits. And enthusiastic immigrants—not just high-level researchers—can increase employment opportunities and wages for domestic science and engineering workers. . . . The message threaded throughout this book—anyone can innovate—is inspiring and needed during a time of economic downturn.
James Heskett - Working Knowledge
Is the world really flat? That's the question posed by Amar Bhidé in his new book, The Venturesome Economy. Disputing Thomas Friedman, author of The World is Flat, Bhidé concludes that: (1) it isn't, and (2) arguments by Friedman and others—whom he labels as 'technonationalists'—fail to recognize how innovation that matters really occurs and aren't always helpful to long-term global or even U.S. development. . . . Bhidé concludes that the edge in economic development from the 'innovation game' comes from the kind of entrepreneurial behavior that adapts and combines high-level ideas and know-how, adjusts them to the needs of particular markets, and actually sells them to willing buyers.
Barron's Magazine
With a felicitous writing style, Bhidé addresses the antiforeign bias . . . and explains why innovation can sustain prosperity in the U.S., regardless of whether it emanates from within our borders or from Europe, Asia, or anywhere else. Read the chapter on 'Alarmist Arguments', in which he politely, but devastatingly, refutes the 'techno-nationalists'--many of them distinguished economists--who'd have us believe American prosperity depends on maintaining a lead 'on all fronts' in technical research.
Amity Shlaes - Politico
Annihilatingly good since it is so much at odds with the current, brows-knitted, anxious attitude toward the economic future. . . . Bhide is the undiscovered Malcolm Gladwell.
Fergal Byrne - Financial Times
A rigorously researched and original analysis that challenges much received wisdom about the process of innovation, particularly in the US. . . . In his analysis of innovation, Bhidé distinguishes between cutting-edge scientific discoveries and ideas—what he calls 'high-level' know-how—and the kind of know-how needed to turn these ideas into innovative products and services to meet the needs of specific markets ('mid- and ground-level innovation'). He says not enough attention has been paid to this mid- and ground-level activity, in particular to the commercial and organisational effort needed to turn scientific breakthroughs into useful products, or to how well America does it.
Ming-Wei Wang - Nature
In The Venturesome Economy, Bhidé provides a thorough discussion of the relationship between venture-backed business and globalization. Asserting the global influence of the United States, he explores the complex synthesis of innovation in an increasingly open international market. He also emphasizes the importance of embracing the ever-changing market and not fearing the false alarms and paranoia that strike an unpredictable economy.
R.B. Emmett - Choice
Bhidé's book is a welcome addition to the debate over how we sustain economic prosperity in a global, interconnected world.
Guy Trebay - New York Times
Bhidé points out that without our free-spending, possibly foolhardy yet certainly optimistic habits of consumption, Americans would not have moved the market to devise such culture-altering goods as personal computers, the iPod and, in an earlier and much tougher economic period, even mass-produced shoes.
Michelle Baddeley - Times Higher Education
The Venturesome Economy is a refreshing riposte to the doomsayers of recession and the bleak prognostications of the technonationalists. It is a compelling book and will have a wide audience; many will be interested in the numerous case studies, particularly of IT and biotech firms. The emphasis on relationships, connections and networks resonates well with modern literature on social capital and economic psychology.
Hamish McRae - The Independent
[Bhidé's] core message is that you need innovative consumers. This, rather than the cutting-edge stuff in the university labs or the research departments of the multinationals, is what gives America its edge.
The Economist
A counterintuitive view of technology and globalisation that will delight those who believe that American innovation is insulated from economic ups and downs.
What People Are Saying
Amar Bhidé provides a fresh and reassuring perspective on America's technological position in an increasingly global economy. Anyone interested in our economic future and especially our technology policies should read this book.
— Lawrence Summers, Harvard University
What People Are Saying
The strides made by China and India, notably their unexpected technological advances, have made America anxious, prompting calls to double federal spending on basic research. In The Venturesome Economy, Amar Bhidé draws on his unmatched knowledge of the mechanisms of innovation to show the benefits to us of Asia's advances and the errors in the techno-fetishism that grips Washington officialdom. This book deepens radically our understanding of how the global economy functions.
— Edmund Phelps, 2006 Nobel Laureate in Economics
What People Are Saying
A book full of solid if unconventional deductions, all based on extensive observations. Amar Bhidé is an author who knows whereof he speaks and to whom one should listen.
— William J. Baumol, author of "The Free-Market Innovation Machine"
What People Are Saying
In The Venturesome Economy, Amar Bhidé takes on the increasingly noisy chorus of critics worried about the effects of globalization on the national economy. He demonstrates that the application and commercialization of technology is far more important than whether the underlying science originated at home or abroad. The winners will be those countries and businesses that have the insight and energy to apply innovations effectively. This is an optimistic and important message.
— Donald J. Gogel, president and CEO of Clayton, Dubilier & Rice
What People Are Saying
If I were asked to recommend to the next president just one book on the trajectory of the U.S. economy in the next several years, it would unhesitatingly be Amar Bhidé's The Venturesome Economy. The book is an utterly original interpretation of the nature of the complex process of innovation. Among other things, it makes a mockery of the simplistic, alarmist writings that have become so popular in these troublesome economic times. As a student myself of the lovely, kinky history of real innovation, I almost found myself audibly cheering as I raced through this seminal text.
— Thomas J. Peters, coauthor of "In Search of Excellence: Lessons from America's Best-Run Companies"
