“The Blind Spot of the Japanese Economy” (Chikuma Shinsho, written by Ryutaro Kono) includes a chapter titled “How Can Society Tame Innovation?” This is Chapter 7. Its content appears to be based on “A Thousand Years of Innovation and Inequality” (Hayakawa Publishing), co-authored by Nobel Prize-winning economists Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson. The gist of the chapter is that innovation alone does not lead to economic growth or enrich people’s lives. If used incorrectly, innovation can even lead to poverty.

For example, the internet has dramatically increased our lives, but it has not boosted economic growth. On the other hand, it has widened the economic gap between IT companies and the rest, and some point out that this widens the gap and contributes to the entrenchment of disparities.

Why does this happen? Because society allows innovation to take on a life of its own. When innovation takes on a life of its own, it inevitably flows in its favor—in other words, monopolies. This divides society into the haves and the have-nots. The only way to prevent this is to control the rampant power of innovation. In other words, innovation cannot truly permeate society and improve people’s lives unless it is accompanied by systems and rules.
In this regard, “A Millennium of Innovation and Inequality” argues for the importance of valuing diverse voices. This is the true advantage of democracy, and it avoids the tyranny of narrow-minded visions.
“We are not arguing that citizens of all backgrounds should be present in groups to decide how best to design the laws of thermodynamics or voice recognition algorithms. Rather, we are arguing that various choices related to technology, such as algorithms, financial products, and how to apply the laws of physics, tend to have clear social and economic consequences, and everyone should have a say in whether they consider these consequences to be desirable or acceptable.” (Kei Kitajima)

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