Despite being home to Internet leaders from Amazon to Zynga, the digital economy of the United States is falling behind.
It’s still the biggest in the world—nearly $700 billion in 2011 and projected to rise to $1 trillion in 2016. But as measured by its contribution to national GDP, the U.S. Internet economy already trails that of the U.K., South Korea, China, and Japan. By 2016, it will be overtaken by India and the EU-27.
Why does this matter, other than perhaps from the point of view of national pride? In a word—jobs.