Economic Growth

"The distinguishing features of this book are the depth of its historical material; its rich detail about individual industries; and the balance in assessing different views of growth. After the historical sections, the reader has the background needed for a mature evaluation of growth theories, and the author guides us through such an evaluation. He does not appear to have an ideological ax to grind or a special clever point to make, which makes the book credible and valuable for anyone interested in the field.

Many discussions of growth focus on technological innovation, but make the concept seem mysterious. Solow referred to the residuals that capture this innovation as 'a measure of our ignorance.' This book uses concrete examples of industries and how they developed, such as the U.S. auto industry, to help us see the forces behind generalities in other work.

In the end, the author advances a strong conclusion: economic growth is the greatest thing to happen in 3000 years. Some economists make statements like this based on ideology. This author earns the right to draw such a conclusion with his meticulous and balanced development of evidence on the causes and consequences of growth."

Laurence M. Ball, Department of Economics, John Hopkins University and National Bureau of Economic Research.

"A valuable synthesis of literature on the sources of economic growth and, simultaneously, a challenge for more research on the relationship between technological change, economic growth and social transformations."

Diego Comin, Department of Economics, Dartmouth College.