Most of the time, we think of innovation policy as a problem of how to accelerate desirable forms of technological progress. But there are other times when we may wish to actively slow technological progress. The AI pause letter is a recent example, but less controversial examples abound. A lot of energy policy acts as a brake on the rate of technological advance in conventional fossil fuel innovation. Geopolitical rivals often seek to impede the advance of rivals’ military technology.
Today I want to look at policy levers that actively slow technological advance, sometimes (but not always) as an explicit goal.
This podcast is an audio read through of the (initial version of the) article "How to impede technological progress", originally published on New Things Under the Sun.