[ChinoCoug]

(Warning: Grapevine tone).

According classical growth theory, technological innovation is independent of economic forces. A new scientific discovery made in isolation spurs technological advancement and consequently economic growth.

But reality is different. Recently, I've been studying Gregor Mendel. Myth has it that the father of modern genetics was a monk mixing peas outside his monastery in isolation, when in fact there was burgeoning trade in the Austro-Hungarian empire that led everyone to mix better peas for sale. Technological innovation is endogenous to, not exogenous from, incentives.