["Economica, EarlyView. ", "\nAbstract\nThis paper investigates the impact of creativity on technological advancement, long‐term economic development, and social welfare, where creativity is determined endogenously through interactions within social networks. The analysis shows that an economy remains stagnant, exhibiting neither networking nor long‐term growth, when the size of the creative class falls below a positive threshold. Once this threshold is exceeded, active networking between creative and non‐creative individuals emerges, fostering sustained technological progress and income growth. The model is calibrated and used to simulate the transition from stagnation to sustained growth. The results indicate meaningful welfare gains from such a transition, driven by the cumulative effects of technological progress facilitated by networking.\n"]