"Economists ... call them entrepreneurs. These are people who are always trying to shake things up. They are looking around, they are seeing what problems people are having with current products. And they try to do something about it; they either make a modification to an existing product or maybe they come up with a completely new product, some new invention," says Dr. Walden, a professor of agricultural and resource economics.

"So these are thinkers -- these are thinkers who are good observers, and they are good problem solvers. Now of course the motivation here is money, because if you have a new product that people flock to, you are going to have a lot of people buy that product. And you are going to make a lot of money," Walden adds.

"Oftentimes these entrepreneurs are doing things that are mundane and simple. For example I was reading a biography of the Crosley brothers
And they made their initial money developing tire inner tubes -- something (that was) very mundane but yet had a great market appeal once they developed that product.

"So entrepreneurs are very, very essential to our economy. It's hard to predict what new product is going to do well, and there are plenty of entrepreneurs who develop things and they fall flat on there face," he concludes. "But they are definitely needed because ultimately it's these folks who push us forward and help improve our standard of living."