In the Great Depression you could still make money if you invested in movies, radio, some automobiles and some utilities. These were all what one might call adolescent industries that had fared well in the 20s and were growing fast when the Depression arrived. They kept going and growing when older--and newer--industries faltered. The West was opening to electrification, people needed a cheap escape (radio, movies) and new technologies spurred automotive advances as well as communications and energy.

Today, it seems to me that the industries with a full head of steam (to use an industrial age metaphor!) are Internet sales and advertising that, among other things, let you purchase goods for less (Amazon) and enjoy a cheap escape (the Internet generally). Medical devices also are in a high tech adolescence industry, with fast paced changes enabling new solutions to health problems--and often saving money as well as lives.

A friend with a tumor in his head can now be treated with a neutron radiation device that has a success record three times as good as surgery, with less time (and, hence, less money) required for both doctors and patients. Better results for less money.

This weekend at the libertarian "FreedomFest" in Las Vegas, George Gilder will debate Peter Thiel (Paypal founder, angel investor for Facebook) on the theme of "Future Shock: Has High Tech Run its Course?" Peter is a pessimist on the topic, George an optimist. (I am moderating.) But I bet both will share many criticisms of our current government mismanagement of the entrepreneurial economy and some similar prescriptions for reviving science as well as tech. I know they both are skeptical of credentialism in education--the big bloated money eater of the old economy that is now stumbling and falling.

NOTE: George Gilder will speak at Discovery's Seattle offices on Friday, July 15 at 12:00 noon on "How High Tech Will Rebuild Our Economy." Phone 292-0401, x 102. Space is running out!