At the same time, we're going to be making some key investments in places like education, and science and technology, research and development that the American people understand is required to win the future.

WHITEHOUSE: Presidential Press Conference on the 2012 Budget

Now that Britain has got its way, more of its weapons are likely to be bought from American firms, and more of its research and development funding will go to joint projects with America.

ECONOMIST: Combat jets

Like the centres that support similar charter schools in many American states, it will combine policy development, research and advocacy with help for would-be schools on everything from applying for permission to finding premises and hiring teachers.

ECONOMIST: Tory plans for schools

In contrast, American companies typically spend more time on pre-development research, and then rely more on marketing.

BBC: Ativ Tab

Several of the champions of the new economy are firms that were once hailed as plucky little start-ups but have long since grown huge, such as Apple, Google and Facebook. (In August Apple was the world's largest listed company by market capitalisation.) American firms with 5, 000 or more people spend more than twice as much per worker on research and development as those with 100-500.

ECONOMIST: Why large firms are often more inventive than small ones