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Innovation, entrepreneurship, and economic growth
Economic growth is meaningless unless it improves the quality of our lives. By most measures (e.g., average lifespans, variety in diet, education, access to transportation or health care, or square feet of housing) average Americans are now materially better off than in any previous generation.
If your background is middle-class, you probably cannot remember when your family lacked a car, remote-controlled color TVs, stereos, microwave ovens, dishwashers, automatic garage door openers—the list goes on and on. Nor did your parents grow up as their parents had. You will probably tell your own children how tough life was before, for example, most families had computers and instant access to 500 channels on cable TV.
Economic progress is proceeding much faster today than ever before, but probably not as fast as it soon will be. From the dawn of history until the Industrial Revolution (roughly 200 years ago), lifestyles changed only at a snail's pace. For centuries, people lived much as their immediate ancestors had. What accounts for the astonishing pace of technological advances?
Science, which is sometimes characterized as research and development (R&D), is usually accorded much of the credit (or blame). However, the scientific part of R&D usually focuses on research, with development (implementations of new technology) being left to entrepreneurs. Thus, science might be relatively stagnant without support from entrepreneurs, who transform new knowledge from research into practical uses, a process called "innovation."
In their search for profits, entrepreneurs constantly seek better ways to fulfill people's unmet needs. People may be unaware of these needs until someone markets a new product. You probably identify Thomas Edison as the inventor of the electric light bulb, but did you also know that, while still engaged in research, he became a business tycoon after founding General Electric?
Few entrepreneurs, however, are full-time inventors. Instead they focus on improving the inventions of others to move new processes and products to market. For example, Henry Ford did not invent the automobile, but he did develop assembly-line production to make standardized cars affordable for average people.
Successful entrepreneurs often establish companies that prosper for long periods, but this success is at risk because other entrepreneurs look for ways to do things better and cheaper. The most imitated computer to date was launched in 1982: the IBM PC. For almost a decade, however, IBM executives remained convinced that only a few hobbyists would ever buy personal computers—only giant mainframes would ever have a large market. IBM's myopia set the stage for a wave of techie entrepreneurs, among others, Bill Gates of Microsoft and Steve jobs and Steve Wosniak of Apple.
Today, highly publicized alarmists are convinced that the future looks bleak. Other alarmists view technological advances with dismay. Genetic engineering is a favorite target. Recognize, however, that any type of knowledge can be used improperly. For example, the types of medical research that cured smallpox, polio, and plague also generated the knowledge used for germ warfare. This does not mean that less knowledge is better than more: ignorance can kill you. However, it can mean that, in some cases, due care should be exercised.
Today, adventurous entrepreneurs plot changes to the world as we know it, much as Columbus did in 1492. Columbus sought only a shorter route to India, but he discovered a whole new world (new, at least, to Medieval Europe). These entrepreneurs foresee smart TVs and multimedia systems, rich information highways, and amazing advances in bioengineering. Who knows what new worlds they will discover? 3166 digits