What Creates Wealth?

5-Minute Videos | PragerU

PragerU

History, Education, Business, Self-improvement, Non-profit

4.8 • 6.9K Ratings

🗓️ 5 January 2019

⏱️ 6 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Why are some countries rich and some countries poor? Is it access to natural resources? Is it tax policy? A motivated work force? These are important, but not determinative. The answer is deceptively simple - it's what's in our heads: knowledge. Thus, the surest way to promote economic growth is to cultivate an environment that encourages the spread of knowledge. Such an environment requires freedom, which is why the freest societies are the most prosperous. In five minutes, economist George Gilder explains why. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Let me begin with what sounds like a very simple question.
0:05.5	What is the most essential ingredient in wealth creation and economic growth?
0:10.8	Almost everyone would answer money.
0:14.0	Or having a lot of natural resources.
0:16.9	But the real answer is knowledge.
0:21.0	It's easy to prove.
0:22.5	What is the difference between us and a caveman?
0:26.5	The only difference is that we know a lot more.
0:30.0	Biologically we're the same.
0:31.5	The neurons in our brains are the same.
0:33.7	The physical world is the same.
0:36.2	But our lives are infinitely better.
0:39.0	Why?
0:40.4	Because of knowledge.
0:41.8	You don't have to go back to the caveman to prove this point.
0:44.7	You could go back 50 years.
0:46.8	New knowledge, say the discovery of penicillin or new algorithms that lead to better search
0:53.1	engines.
0:54.8	These come as a surprise.
0:56.8	We call these surprises innovation because they are inherently unpredictable.
1:02.2	New products burst on the scene seemingly at a nowhere.
1:06.1	Suddenly there's electric light or an automobile or an iPhone.
	...

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