Lant Pritchett on Sounds Robotic: A CGD Podcast

 
Lant Pritchett is a senior fellow at CGD, formerly of the Harvard Kennedy School and the World Bank. In this episode of Sounds Robotic, we discuss a recent CGD note that addresses the role of knowledge and technology in growth. It focuses primarily on the limitations of randomized controlled trials as a source of useful knowledge for development, but many of the same lessons might apply to those of us interested in technology and development. Lant asserts that the main problem developing countries face isn’t a lack of access to new technologies or knowledge, but rather lack of the use of these technologies that have been around a while, which leads to a discussion of institutions and how deals are done. For those interested, here are some primers on the Leontief production function, TFP and 'A' in a production function, and Ricardo Hausmann and why economic growth is like Scrabble.