When stock markets gyrate and growth prospects darken, it’s tempting to rein in innovation programs and hoard cash. The S&P 500 did exactly that during the Great Recession, increasing their cash levels by over 50% to nearly $1 trillion today. As it looked like the economic storm clouds were dissipating (ah, the good old days…) the prospects for company growth looked barren, which is what will happen after firms have locked their cash away. So we saw a wave of mergers and share repurchases as companies found they had few programs in-house that could profitably absorb all that cash quickly. Rather than carefully watering a set of growth crops, companies had a fire hose of cash that they turned off and on. This is no way to nurture the growth prospects of tomorrow.