Tyler Cowen's argument about stagnation in kitchen innovation set off a enormously contentious discussion of kitchen utensils. The focus here is odd and as I argued economists have a long history of ignoring innovations when those innovations threaten deeply held ideological or, in Malthus' case theological, beliefs. In the first instance, it's not clear why new methods of cooking tell us anything about general levels innovation. Here is a story about turning waste into energy that would seem to indicated no lack of innovation. The constant and increasing reliance on robots and computers to replace workers is, it seems to me, evidence of yet even more innovation.
New sources of energy are evidence of good innovation while job destroying, absent some commitment to the equitable distribution of wealth, innovations are bad. The fight for the future is on implementation of innovation and distribution not innovation alone.
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