Book Review: 'Knowledge and Power' by George Gilder

Economists as far back as Adam Smith have undervalued entrepreneurs—the restless, inventive, job-creating engines of the economy.

March 17, 2014 7:50 p.m. ET

Businesses can succeed in two ways. They can improve upon the stock of existing goods and services, or they can offer something new and different. The second course creates more value but faces more obstacles, as Henry Ford is said to have put it: "If I had listened to my customers, I would have built a faster horse." Steve Jobs said something similar decades later: "It's really hard to design products by focus groups. A lot of times, people don't know what they want until you show it to them."


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