Thinking about Growth
And Other Essays on Economic Growth and Welfare

The essays in this book explore the forces behind modern economic growth and, in particular, the causes of the extraordinary surge of growth since the Second World War. The introductory essay is an extended treatment of the current views of economists on the growth process and its causes. Other essays consider the contributions of capital formation, education, and the changing character of industries and occupations. These essays disclose the central role of technological progress, take up the relations of science, technology, and business, and discuss the conditions that make for investment in research and the widespread exploitation of new knowledge. They show how Japan and Europe had an unusual opportunity after the war to advance rapidly by following in paths of technology and industrial organization pursued earlier by the United States, and how a remarkable set of circumstances and policies governing trade, investment, population migration, and money worked together to sustain rapid and concerted growth for many years.

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"The 13 essays assembled in this collection are the fruit of 40 years of study of the process of economic growth here [in the U.S.] and in Japan and Western Europe by a preeminent scholar of the subject. The first of the four parts deals with the change in economists' approach to the phenomenon over this period. Five essays in the second part analyze the proximate causes of long-term economic change, including the contributions of capital formation, education, and technology. The third part comprises two celebrated essays on long swings in U.S. economic growth. The final section deals with growth and welfare." Anna J. Schwartz in the Key Reporter

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Product details

• Date Published: April 1991
• format: Paperback
• isbn: 9780521407748
• length: 396 pages

• dimensions: 229 x 152 x 22 mm
• weight: 0.58kg
• availability: Available