At the Global Economic Symposium in Schleswig-Holstein in September 2008, Edward Leamer of the University of California, Los Angeles spoke at a session on inequality and globalisation. Afterwards, he talked to Romesh Vaitilingam about his concept of ‘neurofacturing’ (creating value through knowledge work rather than physical labour), its rising significance in the world of the personal computer and the internet, the impact on inequality and the implications for our education systems.