

Why have most successful entrepreneurial ideas failed to raise living standards? - acconrad
http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2011/01/why-stagnation-technological-limits-or-myopic-elites/64369/

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euroclydon
Living standards are actually pretty high, at least in areas where education
and political stability have allowed certain technologies to proliferate.

Take Fluoride for example. The CDC says it's use in cavity prevention is "one
of 10 great public health achievements of the 20th century." It's application
was not developed as an entrepreneurial endeavor, but rather as part of NIH
research. Before Fluoride, didn't people used to have their teeth rot out by
age thirty? Not, I'll bet people who drink fluorinated water have most of
their teeth for most of their lives.

