In "the new game" of future global competition, the government ought not meddle directly in research and development for industry; money for research at government institutes would be better spent on support of universities and inter-company research by industry. Such efforts would reap much broader benefits.
波特特別舉例，在未來全球競爭的「新遊戲」中，政府不應介入產業研發，與其在國家機構中進行研發，不如資助各大學和產業聯手研發，更有擴散效益。