The Great Stagnation

The Great Stagnation

2011 • 71 pages

Ratings2

Average rating3.5

15

An interesting, fast read, although it left a couple of major areas un-addressed. In particular, I think there's a lot more to discuss about why the Internet does not generate so much revenue. Cowen basically states this as an inevitability due to the nature of the Internet, but I don't see why it's not a matter of the market hasn't rationalized it yet. Cowen also has kind of a cartoonish view of bureaucracy, with no consideration for the many good reasons the administrative state exists. I think the basic analytic framework is pretty interesting (we've plucked all the “low-hanging fruit,” ranging from the Industrial Revolution to communications technology, and gotten accustomed to a rate of economic growth associated with those innovations), though I'd be interested in reading how historians of science have responded.

November 10, 2013Report this review