Higher productivity drives increases in wealth, wages, and living standards. AI could be just what we need to solve many of today’s problems — if we manage the gains wisely.

Real progress demands rules built for uncertainty — not for the few innovations dominating today’s tech landscape.

In nature, business, and life, survival doesn’t belong to the optimized — it belongs to those with a built-in buffer.

Welcome to The Nightcrawler — a weekly newsletter from Eric Markowitz covering tech, innovation, and long-term thinking.

We need to fully acknowledge problems, while vigorously pursuing solutions. Call it “solutionism.”

From tulips to Bitcoin, bubbles have been given a bad rap as destroyers of dreams — but they’re essential for our brightest future. Here’s why.

Studying why innovation clusters form can shed light on how to better promote research and growth.

Achieving values and pursuing growth is the real secret to a fulfilled life.

Absence makes the heart (and public opinion) grow fonder.

The world needs a moral defense of progress based in humanism and agency.

Misinterpreted data may be distorting Western predictions about the future of China's economy.

What worked before won’t necessarily work this time — and the best leaders will adapt.

China has always been one of the world’s wealthiest nations, but Chinese wealth looks different across the country’s eventful history.

Ice harvesters once made a living from frozen lakes and ponds, but the work was strenuous and dangerous. Then refrigeration changed everything.

Let us share this miracle with mothers in poor countries.

There is a strong case to be made that the China has moved too slowly to reverse the effects of its one-child policy.

Although it’s often described as the Amazon of China, Alibaba has a radically different business model that does not rely on inventory management.

Wealth concentration among elites was common in ancient nations, but the scale on which it took place in Egypt’s 18th Dynasty was unprecedented.

Some analysts predict that Amazon's revenue will double over the next five years.

The media sells bad news, but scientific evidence shows that we are making progress toward a greener planet.

Inequality should be measured in terms of the time it takes for us to earn the money to buy the things we need. And everyone is getting wealthier.

Probably someday.

With economic turmoil looming, everyone wants a way to keep their funds safe. But is that really possible?

Historical analyses reveal that crises almost always yield surprising benefits.

The future of American jobs isn't only services and tech.

You can buy over 400,000 products tagged “witch” on Etsy, from candles to spell bottles to pentagram necklaces.

The world has improved in mind-blowing ways.

Economic growth is more about quality than quantity.

Progress got derailed somewhere between indoor plumbing and the flying car. Why?

We asked our experts where they see the biggest blockers right now for more progress. Essentially, from their various areas of focus, what did they see as the largest impediments to driving progress forward around the world and how they would prioritize the necessary interventions? The answers were appropriately varied from the philosophical to the political to the technological.