Innovation in the Great Depression The Great Depression wiped out banks, companies, jobs, and personal savings. Yet it was also a time of tremendous innovation in industries including autos, chemicals, and radio and television. "If the health of the financial sector is so critical to the functioning of the real economy," a new research paper asks, "how can it be reconciled that technological development continued to advance rapidly despite a disrupted financial system?" Professors Ramana Nanda and Tom Nicholas explore the connection between financial sector health and technological innovation in their paper, Did Bank Distress Stifle Innovation During the Great Depression? The June issue of Harvard Business Review includes a number of articles by Harvard Business School faculty: Using customers ...