The distinction between demand-side and supply-side arguments for the supposed lack of innovation is interesting. However, I don’t agree that we have “exhausted the low-hanging fruits in our desires”. I think that our lives have been transformed only the last few years by the spread of smartphones (certainly my own life has). I did want to have constant internet access, to be able to chat with my friends whenever I wanted, etc, and now these desires are satisfied. I expect there to be many many more desires that will be satisfied by information technology and other advances in the coming years.
In short, I don’t think our desires are anywhere near being satisfied, but that plenty of them will be satisfied in the coming decades.
The distinction between demand-side and supply-side arguments for the supposed lack of innovation is interesting. However, I don’t agree that we have “exhausted the low-hanging fruits in our desires”. I think that our lives have been transformed only the last few years by the spread of smartphones (certainly my own life has). I did want to have constant internet access, to be able to chat with my friends whenever I wanted, etc, and now these desires are satisfied. I expect there to be many many more desires that will be satisfied by information technology and other advances in the coming years.
In short, I don’t think our desires are anywhere near being satisfied, but that plenty of them will be satisfied in the coming decades.