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Over thirty years ago I wrote an extended essay, The Moon and the Ghetto, concerned with the troubling question of why societies so rich and capable technologically and organizationally as to be able to land a man on the moon seemed unable to deal effectively with e.g. poverty, illiteracy, slums. I argued that, while politics was part of the reason, in many cases the problem was that our scientific knowledge and technological know-how was not sufficient to point the way to a solution. The general problem of the great unevenness of human progress has not gone away. The questions explored in this seminar are, first, what lies behind the great unevenness of scientific and technological progress. And second, under what conditions does it make sense to seek a solution to a problem by trying to develop stronger know-how. Can progress be made by reorienting our innovation systems?

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About Richard R. Nelson

Richard R. Nelson is Henry R. Luce Professor of International Political Economy at Columbia University. His research concentrates on the processes of long-run economic change, with particular emphasis on technological advances and on the evolution of economic institutions. Before joining Columbia University Prof. Nelson served as research analyst at the Rand Corporation, at the US President’s Council of Economic Advisors, and held academic positions at Oberlin College, at the Carnegie Institute of Technology and at Yale University. He has published over 100 articles and over 30 books including The Moon and the Ghetto: an Essay on Policy Analysis (1977) An Evolutionary Theory of Economic Change (1982), National Innovation Systems: A Comparative Analysis (1993) and The Sources of Industrial Leadership (1999). Through his career he has received numerous honors including the Tinbergen Award (1999), the Leontief Prize (2005) and the Honda Prize (2006).

Homepage: http://www.sipa.columbia.edu/academics/directory/rrn2-fac.html

Richard R. Nelson

Columbia University


When


Where

Ciudad Politécnica de la Innovación
Edificio 8E, Acceso J, Planta 3ª (Salón de Actos. Cubo Rojo)
Universidad Politécnica de Valencia | Camino de Vera s/n