"Great advances in science have never come from centralized government" claimed Milton Friedman.  The ability to innovate was also one of the reasons that led Fukuyama to claim liberal democracy would ultimately dominate. But if we had any doubt that this was mistaken, it is now surely no longer credible. In recent years, China has filed more patents than the US and EU combined, and produced double the AI research publications of the U.S.  While historically, many argue Tsarist Russia, imperial Germany, and Meiji Japan were able to industrialise rapidly in an authoritarian culture.

Might the future of innovation lie in state-directed, "authoritarian capitalism"?  Is the lesson that a level of intellectual freedom may be required to enable innovation, but this does not require political freedom to run alongside?  Or in the long term, is a liberal culture essential to encourage new forms of technological and scientific advance?

Join us this July for IAI Live as leading thinkers explore these provocative questions and more. With full debates, in-depth talks, and exclusive interviews now announced, this is a conversation you won’t want to miss.

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