In this new episode of Dialogues for the Common Good I talk with Jakub Growiec about his new book “Accelerating Economic Growth”. Jakub Growiec is a Professor of Social Science at Warsaw School of Economics who works on economic growth, looking more specifically at production functions, determinants of growth, technological progress, productivity, R&D, but also the economics of social capital.
Jakub recently wrote a book that he, I believe rightly so, called his magnus opus. It is entitled “Accelerating Economic Growth: Lessons From 200 000 Years of Technological Progress and Human Development”. I have to say that I found this an amazing walk through our history of economic growth, with an equally in-depth and thoughtful walk through our potential future. It is a profound work that deserves wide attention and discussion. Jakub discusses issues related to the history and future of economic growth, the ultimate goal of humankind, the decomposition of development, the acceleration of growth, the need to establish data accounts in the line of national accounts, the role of Artificial Intelligence, and he redefines the production function. There is simply so much depth in this book and new ideas, I believe it should be on the reading list of all economists.
What I particularly like about this book is that it is written in a casual, interesting and even funny style yet goes into details that especially economists will appreciate. While it is written for a general audience, I believe that you should be an economist, especially a growth economist, in order to be able to fully comprehend the importance of the ideas raised. While one can see that Jakub was inspired by the likes of Yuval Noah Harari, Jakub’s contribution takes a different direction and clearly goes much deeper. Only a highly sophisticated economist, who not only knows about economic growth but economics in general, can collect and present such a wealth of novel contributions in a mere 180 pages.
Enjoy the interview.
About the book:
What made it possible for the human species to conquer the world, build a global digital economy, and still want more? What drives technological progress and economic growth in the long run and on a global scale? And how will technological progress, economic growth, and the overall prosperity of human civilization unfold in the future?
This book sheds new light on these big questions by incorporating findings from physics, anthropology, psychology, history, philosophy, and computer science in a brand-new theory of economic growth. Looking back across the millennia, it identifies five major technological revolutions which have transformed humankind’s capacity to process energy and information—the cognitive, agricultural, scientific, industrial, and digital revolutions—and characterizes the new avenues of economic development which they have opened while also exponentially accelerating growth.
ingmar schumacher 