Is Everything Inevitable in Retrospect?

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CNN's John Sutter talks about the paradox of innovation and invention. He says in retrospect everything looks inevitable, but at the time we can't figure out what comes next. Inventors must explain to people that they might enjoy having your product, he says. And then you've got to make sure it's reliable.

What's the difference between invention and innovation? Could it be that innovation--the process of making a breakthrough invention available, affordable, and reliable--is actually the hard part? In this week's EconTalk episode, author Matt Ridley talks about his book How Innovation Works with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. Ridley argues that we give too much credit to inventors and not enough to innovators--those who refine and improve an invention to make it valuable to users. Along the way, he emphasizes the power of trial and error and the importance of permissionless innovation.