Innovation Indicators: Metrics of Progress (Transcript of speech delivered at the Fifth Anniversary of IERI)

Innovation and innovation policies are important, as they have been linked to growth, and growth is needed to pay for social services and to pay back the bailouts resulting from the recent financial crisis. In fact, the financial crisis was a direct result of innovation in financial services. Monetized debt instruments were brought to the market as new, or significantly improved, products, a classic case of innovation. The products diffused widely and then lost value. The rest, as they say, is history, and truly, innovation is linked to growth, but be sure to get the minus sign right.