‘INVENTION IS COMING UP WITH NEW IDEAS. INNOVATION IS PUTTING NEW IDEAS INTO REALITY AND ACROSS ALL PRODUCTION STAGES.’ making them better and cheaper. Confu- stock options or stocks. If the company goes suppliers in semiconductor fabrication and sion arises partly from an obsession with public on the Nasdaq or somebody buys it, created a huge number of jobs for people techno-fetishism, or cult of the new. The they become instant billionaires instead of with different skills. VC model is also enticing because of sto- just millionaires. But the other 85 per cent ries about how poor students became the of the Israeli population doesn’t have a tick- Why do you describe Canada as a ‘mor- world’s richest people. It’s more interesting et for that train of growth. So you have mas- bidly fascinating paradox’ when talking to talk about Elon Musk or Bill Gates than sive inequality, and Tel Aviv has become the about its poor innovation reputation? explain that it took over 40 years and mil- most expensive city to live in on Earth. We have everything needed to succeed in lions of engineers to improve video com- innovation. We have the world’s most edu- pression so that we could have Zoom meet- Taiwan, once known for making cated labour force. Our research infrastruc- ings that changed lives during the Covid-19 cheap toys, is also an innovation ture, especially public research, punches pandemic. It was not that somebody thought leader with government support. above its weight with inventions that could of the idea of teleconferencing. How does its model differ? turn into important industries, technol- Taiwan wanted to get involved in the semi- ogies and products. But we can’t seem to Israel has become an innovation conductor industry but couldn’t compete turn this intellectual and invention poten- powerhouse with government help and against cutting-edge innovation. But its tial into innovation growth. Median wages Silicon Valley-style venture capital. industries were good at making cheap have been stagnant since 1978. Productivity It has more Nasdaq listings than any electronic toys, which need small, but con- has been stagnant. Within the global sys- other country outside the United States. stantly changing semiconductors. Through tem of production, we have also become What’s the problem? experimentation, the focus turned to cre- less sophisticated. For example, we are Israel has become Silicon Valley on ste- ating pure-play foundries. The idea was good at taking minerals, such as cobalt, out roids. The only thing that works is startups, to create a company to make chips from of the ground, but not in refining or using which means stagnant productivity and designs by other companies. That’s how it to build products like batteries to power wage growth in other sectors. You have 10 Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. electric vehicles. Instead, minerals go to to 15 per cent of the population – the top became the most innovative company – not China, the U.S., and Europe, which make research-and-development [R&D] engi- in new chips, but in chip fabrication. Since them into high added-value products that neers, their financiers, lawyers and maybe the 1980s, we now have supply chains with generate massive profits. We like to think a few celebrity chefs — earning salaries that industries that fit into four different stages of ourselves as part of the Group of Seven are equal to Silicon Valley. Those involved of the global production process. In Tai- [G7] advanced economies, but we look like in startups basically have lottery tickets in wan’s case, it also created an ecosystem of a third-world country when it comes to