Thinking about Growth

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by Moses Abramovitz

Cambridge University Press

Due/Published January 2004, 396 pages, paper

ISBN 0521407745

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.