The purpose of this lecture is to:
1. Penetrate some of the great historical enigmas associated with the process of world growth, such as industrial takeoff, major technological waves, secular stagnation, the evolution of inequality, convergence and divergence across countries, the middle-income trap, and structural change.
2. Revisit the great debates over innovation and growth in developed nations: Can we foster innovation and creative destruction while at the same time protecting the environment and reducing inequality? Can we avoid creative destruction’s potentially detrimental effects on employment, health, and well-being? Must we fear the digitaland artificial intelligence revolutions?
3. Rethink the role of the state and civil society: What role can each of them play to stimulate innovation and creative destruction and thereby increase the wealth of nations? How can we protect citizens and the economy from the excesses of capitalism?