Can a Phone Be a Cow? (with Philip Auerswald)

Philip Auerswald of George Mason University talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about how the mobile phone reached traditionally excluded populations and transformed productivity. They discuss the story of a small group of entrepreneurs in 1990s Bangladesh who saw a phone as a shareable asset—like a cow—that could generate income for villagers. The conversation also covers William Nordhaus's use of the cost of illumination as a metric of human progress, Joseph Schumpeter's idea of innovation as novel combinations, and the question of how much of progress is inevitable versus dependent on determined individuals.