The politics of innovation

There are certain periods of time when technological innovation pushes at the frontiers of government and law; when technology undermines state authority and opens massive loopholes for entrepreneurs to exploit. During these critical junctures, rules disappear and markets flourish wildly. We are living through one of these junctures right now, witnessing the advance of digital technologies and the creation of whole new markets and industries. As these changes ripple across the global economy, they promise to create hordes of entrepreneurs and billions of dollars in revenue, but also to change the rules of the commercial game. In this lecture, Professor Debora Spar examines how new rules are likely to emerge and who will create them.