The Infinite Alphabet

César A. Hidalgo argues that knowledge is highly fragmented and non-fungible, resembling an infinite alphabet whose letters recombine to produce innovation and economic development.

Drawing on economic complexity, history, and dozens of case studies, he formulates three broad principles — time, space, and value — that describe how knowledge grows, diffuses, and is valued.

Hidalgo examines phenomena from postwar European recovery to China's innovation clusters and failed master-planned knowledge cities to illustrate these dynamics.

He emphasizes distinctions among factual, conceptual, and procedural knowledge and the role of social technologies, institutions, and entrepreneurship in enabling knowledge transfer.

The book offers policy-relevant advice on investing in people and designing interventions that respect the empirical laws governing knowledge accumulation.