BusinessWeek Contradicts CES' Shapiro

Earlier I wrote about Gary Shapiro of CES saying that consumer electronics will be instrumental in getting the economy back on its feet. The reason he said?

Innovation creates investments. Innovation creates new jobs and new ways of doing things. There is a lot of innovation still yet to come. It (the downturn) is disruptive in the short term, because it causes some business to win and some to fail.

The cover story from the current issue of BusinessWeek regarding Silicon Valley (Is Silicon Valley Losing its Magic -- subscription might be required). The premise of the piece is that Silicon Valley isn't producing the next Cisco or Microsoft or Intel, and that the big established companies are wresting away innovation from start-ups.

As Steve Hamm concludes the article he says this: "The Valley's and the tech industry's contribution to the national economy is likely to wane."

So who is right -- CES' Shapiro or Steve Hamm's assessment of Silicon Valley's innovative malaise? We have 12 months to find out.