What is the U.S. gross investment in intangibles? (At least) one trillion dollars a year!

Abstract

This paper argues that the rate of intangible investment – investment in the development and marketing of new products – accelerated in the wake of the electronics revolution in the 1970s. The paper presents preliminary direct and indirect empirical evidence that US private firms currently invest at least $1 trillion annually in intangibles. This rate of investment roughly equals US gross investment in nonresidential tangible assets. It also suggests that the capital stock of intangibles in the US has an equilibrium market value of at least$5 trillion.Gross domestic product ; Investments