Book Launch: Innovation + Equality
How to Create a Future That Is More Star Trek Than Terminator
By Joshua Gans and Andrew Leigh
Foreword by Lawrence H. Summers
Published by MIT Press
Is economic inequality the price we pay for innovation? The amazing technological advances of the last two decades—in such areas as artificial intelligence, genetics, and materials—have benefited society collectively and rewarded innovators handsomely: we get cool smartphones and technology moguls become billionaires. This contributes to a growing wealth gap; in the United States; the wealth controlled by the top 0.1 percent of households equals that of the bottom ninety percent. Is this the inevitable cost of an innovation-driven economy? Joshua Gans and Andrew Leigh make the case that pursuing innovation does not mean giving up on equality—precisely the opposite. In this book, they outline ways that society can become both more entrepreneurial and more egalitarian.
Hosted by UNSW Business School's Professor Richard Holden.
This event will run from 6pm - 7pm followed by a book signing.
The UNSW Bookshop will have a pop-up store avaliable on the evening to purchase a selection of publications by the authors.
Andrew Leigh is a Member of the Australian House of Representatives, a former economics professor, and author of Battlers and Billionaires, Randomistas and other books.
