Technological economics is the study of how technology affects the economy—and how economic factors influence the development and use of technology. It explores how innovations like artificial intelligence, automation, the internet, and renewable energy shape productivity, jobs, growth, and everyday life.

At its core, technological economics asks: How does technology change the way we produce goods, deliver services, and interact with each other? For example, the invention of the internet transformed global trade and communication, while automation in factories has made production faster—but also raised concerns about job losses.

Technology can boost economic growth by making processes more efficient and lowering costs. It also drives competition, encourages investment, and opens up entirely new industries—from biotech to digital finance. However, it also creates challenges, such as widening the gap between those who can afford or understand new technologies and those who cannot.

In addition to studying how governments and companies make technology-innovation decisions, this field looks at how government policies impact those decisions. For example, economic policies—tax preferences, patents, grants—can shape what technologies are developed and how they are disseminated. For example, funding the development of renewable energy technologies might hasten the green economy.

Technological economics also considers how innovations influence societies. Who wins and who loses? What do we do when technology displaces people? These are questions that must be answered thoughtfully in order to not only ensure technological advancement brings to prosperity all of society, rather than a select few, but also to ensure deeper economic inequities are not being created.

In sum, technology economics seeks to understand the profound role of innovation in our economies and societies. It will help us make better decisions about how to shape technological changes, how to deploy investments both wisely and responsibly, and how to understand technology in terms of improving our society so that it can be more competitive, inclusive, productive, and future focused.