Ep. 2 (Part 2) - How do some societies get rich, successful and creative? Ft. Joel Mokyr

In Part 2 of this two-part episode of The Great Tech Game podcast, host Anirudh Suri is joined by Joel Mokyr to dig deep into why some societies get rich, creative and successful while others don't. Mokyr describes the uniqueness of the European experience that leads to the Industrial Revolution, and derives key insights to explain how a culture of nonconformism can be encouraged in a society.Mokyr and Suri discuss examples of countries that have unshackled themselves from their past, such as 19th century Japan during the Meiji Restoration and the East Asian tigers. They also explore how India can reverse its brain drain and become a tech nation, and not remain just a talent nation.Mokyr highlights the high levels of inequality being driven by the tech economy today, and both draw parallels with pre-WWI Europe and its experience with vast inequality driven by industrial capitalism. Jumping to the modern era, they discuss whether AI represents a new revolution in knowledge, or whether it is just hype.They debate the question of whether AI will be a great equalizer or whether it will create more tech monopolies? Mokyr highlights the return of the Single Entrepreneur, comparing and contrasting the Musks, Bezos, Gates and Zuckerbergs of today with the Carnegies, Rockefellers and Morgans of the Gilded Age.The episode ends with Joel Mokyr’s book and podcast guest recommendations.*About the Podcast*The Great Tech Game podcast, with Anirudh Suri, brings you smart, insightful, big picture conversations on geopolitics, technology, business, and history with the world’s top thinkers and leaders. #AnirudhSuri: Managing Director, India Internet Fund; Author, The Great Tech Game: Shaping Geopolitics and the Destinies of Nations (HarperCollins, 2022); and Nonresident Scholar, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Follow Anirudh here: X (formerly Twitter): https://x.com/anirudhsuriLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anirudhsuri/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anirudh_suriFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/AnirudhSuri.in Website: www.anirudhsuri.comBook and Podcast: www.greattechgame.com Book Links:Anirudh Suri:The Great Tech Game by Anirudh Suri : https://amzn.eu/d/1Su38MyJoel Mokyr:Website: https://economics.northwestern.edu/people/directory/joel-mokyr.htmlBio: Joel Mokyr is Professor of Economics and History at Northwestern University. Joel Mokyr conducts research on the economic history of Europe, and specializes in the period 1750-1914. His current research is focused on the understanding of the economic and intellectual roots of technological progress and the growth of useful knowledge in European societies, as well as the impact that industrialization and economic progress have had on economic welfare.He is the author of The Lever of Riches: Technological Creativity and Economic Progress, The British Industrial Revolution: An Economic Perspective, The Gifts of Athena: Historical Origins of the Knowledge Economy, and The Enlightened Economy: an Economic history of Britain, 1700-1850. His most recent book is A Culture of Growth, published by Princeton University Press in 2016. In 2006 he was awarded the biennial Heineken Prize by the Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences for a lifetime achievement in historical science. In 2015 he was awarded the Balzan Prize for Economic History, awarded once every twenty years. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a foreign fellow of the Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences.