Mehran Gul on the Innovation Blindspot
IMF Podcasts
Source details
- Canonical URL
- Mehran Gul on the Innovation Blindspot
Other formats
Bibliographic details
- Guest: MEHRAN GUL
Core argument
- Innovation is widely perceived to be concentrated in the United States and China, but significant innovative models exist elsewhere.
- The obsessive focus on Silicon Valley has obscured other national and regional innovation models.
Illustrative examples and observations
- The Swiss train system has run entirely on renewable energy since the early 1960s.
- Many prominent tech leaders now choose to live in Canada.
- Mehran Gul is the author of The New Geography of Innovation, which the Financial Times selected as one of the best books of 2025.
Implications for understanding innovation geography
- Innovation can arise from diverse institutional arrangements and public systems, not only from venture-capital-driven tech hubs.
- Comparative study of different national examples can reveal alternative pathways to technological and service innovation.
Production and dissemination
- Podcast produced by Bruce Edwards, International Monetary Fund, an award-winning audio producer and journalist.
- Episode published on September 17, 2026.
- Episode made available on major platforms including Libsyn, Spotify, YouTube, Soundcloud, and Apple.