It's said that the simpler answer to a problem is likelier to be correct. Daniel Johnson warns, however, that making simple assumptions about complex problems like global income inequality can actually hamper our solutions. He shows through his work successfully predicting Olympic medals that arriving at the best solution requires a mixture of knowledge, simplicity, and luck.

Daniel K.N. Johnson is the Schlessman Chair of Economics at Colorado College. He has a PhD in Economics from Yale, an MSc from the London School of Economics, and a BSocSci Honors from the University of Ottawa, Canada. He is the author of over sixty refereed journal articles, commissioned papers, and book chapters that explore policy questions regarding the economics of innovation and technological change but also applies economic models to more unusual questions. He founded and runs three startup companies serving higher education, and acts as a senior advisor to three more that address environmental sustainability issues.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx