Thanksgiving for Innovation
After 160 years of puzzling over the role of innovation in
economic growth, The Economist decided it was high
time to pay tribute to society’s innovators and entrepreneurs by
inaugurating its series of Innovation Awards. The magazine has
always been fascinated with entrepreneurs’ ability to conjure up
wealth out of almost nothing, but has simultaneously been
frustrated with the failure of economic models to explain how this
wealth-creation process works.
The Economist’s six Innovation Awards went to innovators who
have made the biggest contribution to the wealth-creation process
in their fields over the past few years. The recipients include:
Leroy Hood (bioscience award) for his automated DNA fluorescence
sequencer that accelerated the pace of the Human Genome Project,
James Gosling (computer award) for Java programming language, and
Shuji Nakamura (‘no boundaries’ award) for developing the first
commercial blue and violet semiconductor lasers that can enhance
storage capacity in electronic devices. Other award categories
included energy/environment, nanotechnology, and telecoms.
While economic models are adept in theoretical arguments, they can
sometimes fall short in explaining the fluctuations of real-life
economies. Though unexplained growth could be due to any number of
factors, The Economist posits that it is derived from ‘the
addition of new knowledge gleaned from scientific discovery and
technological progress – in short, innovation.’ Not only is
innovation a significant and overlooked factor in economic
expansion, but rather ‘the single most important ingredient in any
modern economy – accounting for more than half of economic growth
in America and Britain.’
–Erica Sagrans
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