Tim Harford on the distribution of the benefits from innovation

Tim Harford: "Innovation works in mysterious ways"

Tim Harford muses about the contribution that Steve Jobs has made to TH's life and the rewards that SJ has received from TH.

Harford adds a reference to an estimate by William Nordhaus who reckoned that innovators capture 2.2 % of the total social benefits of their innovations. I wonder whether this estimate includes the long tail of duds that are perfectly useless or even harmful.

RAEM