BW.com has an interesting piece suggesting a relationship between difficult times (i.e., now) and innovation

We talked to several trend-watchers and futurists about the kind of innovations they expect to come from this recession. Along with Obama, they focused on themes of energy and health care, with technology and computing rounding out their wish lists. All saw the opportunity to reframe problems to come up with radically new solutions. “There’s a reason why they call them market corrections,” says author and futurist David Zach. “Things that don’t work, are inefficient, out of date, or bloated often need to be bypassed.” He sees this scenario developing in realms such as the Web, with access to high-speed Internet overcoming geographical barriers to allow ever greater marketplace participation.

Worth a look.