To compete effectively in international markets, a nation's businesses must sustain investment in intangible as well as physical assets.

为了在国际市场上有效地竞争，一个国家的企业必须维持对无形资产和有形资产的投资。

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But many services and intangible assets, say a unique patent or a global brand, do not have a market price, so it is hard to estimate what they are worth.

但多数服务及无形资产，比如一个独特的专利或一个全球品牌，并没有市场价格，所以很难估量他们的价值。

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The big news story of the day was Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) reporting that it had to write down a majority of intangible assets resulting from the purchase of Autonomy, a software provider.

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This means that marketing is no longer viewed as merely a tool for building market share or short-term revenues, but is instead considered a strategic investment in building critical intangible assets, such as customer relationship and brand equity, which produce important long-term profits.

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Whereas tangible assets like plant and equipment drove a company's value during much of the past century, intangible assets such as brands, patents and trademarks are what create value today.

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