The report cites studies to support its assertion of outsize productivity benefits, but many economists say that they are not convinced.
"It could be that investments here pay off more than other investments, but the evidence is still not in, in my view," said Robert Litan, an economist and the director of research and policy at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.
Economists also tend to be skeptical of industry-sector policies because they are reminiscent of industrial policy initiatives in Europe and elsewhere in the postwar years that are widely seen as costly failures.
"I am far more sympathetic with promoting investment in general," Litan said, "and letting the chips -- pun intended -- fall where they may."
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