Is economic growth just about money, trade, and GDP? Or is something deeper at play?

In this episode, economist W. Brian Arthur and physicist Cesar Hidalgo join Nick and Goldy to reveal the real drivers of rising prosperity: human knowledge, know‑how, and innovation. They challenge the old assumptions of growth and argue that innovation isn't a byproduct of a strong economy—it's a cause of economic growth. Once we understand that, it changes how we think about investing in people and shaping the economy.

Part of our Back‑to‑Basics summer series. Essential listening for anyone who believes that growth should empower people, not enrich the status quo.

This episode originally aired January 15, 2019.

W. Brian Arthur is an economist and complexity theorist, renowned for his work on technology and innovation. A longtime researcher at the Santa Fe Institute and former Stanford professor, he’s the author of The Nature of Technology, in which he argues that economic growth stems from evolving combinations of existing technologies.

Cesar Hidalgo is a physicist, professor at the Toulouse School of Economics, and Director at the Center for Collective Learning at Corvinus University of Budapest. He’s also the author of Why Information Grows, where he explores how knowledge and know-how shape economies, arguing that real prosperity comes from embedding insights in people and collaborative networks.

Social Media:

‪@cesifoti.bsky.social‬

Further reading: 

The Nature of Technology

Why Information Grows

Complexity Economics: A Different Framework for Economic Thought

Economic Complexity: From useless to keystone

Complexity Economics Shows Us Why Laissez-Faire Economics Always Fails

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