To the extent that it relies on new spending, the “competitiveness agenda” may be great politics, but its lousy policy. Unlike the R&D tax credit (which is open to anyone in the market) these grant programs force government to pick the market’s winners and losers. The inevitable result is programs like the notorious Advanced Technology Program, which is little more than a Fortune 500 slush fund. R&D spending is already up 58% since 2000, and many of these programs (from energy to technology) are abysmal failures. Why not fix them before laying more programs on top?