Technological Change, Geography of

Technological change is a direct driver of economic growth. New technologies allow societies to produce existing goods more efficiently and also open up entirely new and previously unimagined possibilities. It was technological change that largely eliminated the persistent cycles of famine and overpopulation that plagued humanity before the Industrial Revolution. Since that time, technology has facilitated an unprecedented expansion of standards of living. Simply put, current incomes as well as levels of health and amounts of leisure time for many people, particularly in the First World, are dramatically better than they were as recently as 150 years ago, and in many ways technological change is largely responsible.

Nonetheless, not everyone has made use of technology as well as today's developed economies. Great disparities in per capita ...