How many inventors does it take to pull the US out of recession?

Several tech sites, including CNet, reported Paul Otellini's remarks about the future of the hi-tech in the US:

Intel Chief Executive Officer Paul Otellini offered a depressing set of observations about the economy ..., coupled with a dark commentary on the future of the technology industry if nothing changes.
...he predicted, "the next big thing will not be invented here. Jobs will not be created here."

Well, over the last 300 years, with a very few exceptions, "the next big things" were not invented in China, nevertheless, we don't hear her CEOs complain about the decline of hi-tech employment in their native country. So the problem is not the impending drop in US inventions, but rather a lack of business opportunities for scaling them up using local workforce. The article lists several common reasons: high taxes, high medical costs, hostile business environment, etc.

But forget about taxes for a minute. One way to get around this problem would be for the US to become a nation of pure inventors. That is, everybody's job would be to genate lots of big ideas, while letting other countries implement them for a reasonable licensing fee. Of course, we would have to hire an army of lawyers to bomb sue those countries should they refuse to pay up. Much the same as the Hollywood does today.