A fellow at the Hoover Institution and a professor of economics at New York University Stern School of Business, Michael Spence won the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences in 2001. His latest book is The Next Convergence: The Future of Economic Growth in a Multi-Speed World.

Around 1750 the world economy began its amazing transformation with the advent of the Industrial Revolution. What happened then and why did it happen? The short answer, according to Michael Spence is "innovation." But where does innovation come from? Spence traces the emergence of the global economy, marking the critical interaction of economics and governance in successful economies in the developing world. He focuses on China and India as emerging economic powers and what their rise will mean for the United States.