Stagnation
| Lecture handout: Stagnation* |
I provided some pessimistic views on transformative breakthroughs. But every now and then I notice the power of steady, incremental progress. For example:
Noah Smith has a nice Twitter thread on progress since 1970.
40 years of improved precision engineering and execution speed pic.twitter.com/pDLGbeeqAN
— Roberto Alonso González Lezcano (@robertoglezcano) February 2, 2020
For more on Permissionless Innovation
A good, uplifting account of how creativity can result from not asking permission:
The importance of ideas:
- Additional reading: Cowen, Tyler “Ten Ways to Live a Less Complacent Life”, LinkedIn, May 2017
This page ties into Chapter 12 of Economics: A Complete Guide for Business
| Learning Objectives: Understand the debate around secular stagnation.
Cutting edge theory: A survey of potentially transformative breakthrough technologies. Focus on diversity: Virginia Postrel’s book, The Future and it’s Enemies, encapsulates the distinctions made at the end of the lecture. |