There is widespread worry that growth and innovation in Canada are slowing down. Why is that?
If you think back to the early 20th century, with innovations like airplanes, electricity, automobiles and home appliances, the world was changing very quickly. Today, the number of people doing scientific research is much higher, partly because of population growth. As a result, you would think we’d have 10 Thomas Edisons today for every one we had back then; but that is not the case. Per dollar that we spend on R&D, the amount of social value and innovation we are getting is actually lower now than it was in the past.
There were some clear examples of widespread innovation and diffusion happening early on in the pandemic: Offices rapidly shifted to telework technology; businesses retooled their manufacturing plants to accommodate new consumer needs like masks and PPE; and companies from pharmaceuticals to clothing labels turned their attention to contributing to solve the crisis. But despite
