December 9, 2012 | Washington Post

The shale gas revolution is firing up an old-fashioned American industrial revival, breathing life into businesses such as glass, steel and toys. Oil and gas companies figured out how to combine horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing techniques to tap vast gas reserves trapped in layers of shale rock. And thanks to the surge in shale gas from deposits in places that include Pennsylvania, Texas and Louisiana, the United States is awash with cheap natural gas and could soon turn into a net exporter rather than a net importer.

December 7, 2012 | Baltimore Sun

A new breed of internet-based financiers are calling for action to end regulatory uncertainty they say is preventing them from getting money to the small and medium-sized businesses that need it. The so-called crowdfunding sector raises cash from members of the public to fund lending and investment. Regulators, however, have proved resistant to pleas for adjustments to rules that are tailored to more traditional markets.

December 6, 2012 | Brookings Institute

In this new paper, Darrell West examines that low ROI and argues that part of the problem is that the focus on patents, licenses, and startups places too much emphasis on outputs as opposed to outcomes. Those indicators represent proxy measures of getting material to the market as opposed to whether particular research ideas actually are having an impact and being successful in the marketplace. If a patent is awarded, a license issued, or a start-up business established, it does not guarantee that the product is used or generates revenue. The federal government invests $147 billion in U.S. research and development, with $90 billion going to institutions of higher learning to underwrite faculty research projects and the training of graduate students and post-doctoral fellows. However, based on licensing fees, federal dollars generate a very small rate of return on investment.

December 10, 2012 | Des Moines Register

The Iowa Fund of Funds for startups never took off and a deal was needed to avoid a 'train wreck.' A decade after the state tried to spark investment in young innovative companies, Iowa taxpayers will foot a $26 million bill — and potentially more — to meet the program’s obligations. State attorneys reached an agreement in August to avoid a lawsuit from two lenders who backed the Iowa Fund of Funds, a program lawmakers created in 2002 to attract more venture capital investment in Iowa EDITOR'S NOTE: In full disclosue I was an enthsiastic active participant in bringing the Fund of Funds plan to Iowa, where, as a staff member of the state's Economic Development Department, I had too often been frustrated at the lack of venture capital in Iowa.