The impact of technological change on the wider economy, especially its impact on economic growth, has been one of the key themes in the transition from the industrial age to the information age.

In 1700, most composers were employees of noble courts or the church. But by the nineteenth century, Chopin, Schumann, Brahms, Verdi, and many others functioned as freelance artists teaching, performing, and selling their compositions in the private marketplace. While some believe that Mozart's career marks a clean break between these two periods, this book tells the story of a more complex and interesting transition.

F. M. Scherer first examines the political, intellectual, and economic roots of the shift from patronage to a freelance market. He describes the eighteenth-century cultural "arms race" among noble courts, the spread of private concert halls and opera houses, the increasing attendance of middle-class music lovers, and the founding of conservatories. He analyzes changing trends in how composers acquired their skills and earned their living, examining such impacts as demographic developments and new modes of transportation. The book offers insight into the diversity of composers' economic aspirations, the strategies through which they pursued success, the burgeoning music publishing industry, and the emergence of copyright protection. Scherer concludes by drawing some parallels to the economic state of music composition in our own times.

Written by a leading economist with an unusually broad knowledge of music, this fascinating account is directed toward individuals intrigued by the world of classical composers as well as those interested in economic history or the role of money in art.

Two hundred years ago, the first Industrial Revolution sparked a dramatic acceleration in the quantity of goods and services available to the average citizen--a trend of steadily increasing real income per capita that continues to this day. Since that time, economists have struggled to develop systematic explanations for what caused the sudden, rapid increase, why the economy keeps growing, and why the rate of growth varies in different time periods and nations. In this book, F. M. Scherer traces the evolution of economic growth theory from the Industrial Revolution to the present. Emphasizing technological change as the most crucial dynamic force for growth, Scherer analyzes early hypotheses that paid little attention to new technologies, follows the emergence of theories that increasingly emphasized technological change, and reviews the current state of economic growth theory. Pointing out a lack of solid microbehavioral foundations to support contemporary "new growth" ideas, Scherer then supplies some foundational "bricks" concerning financial investment and human capital, and concludes by exploring the prospects for sustaining rapid growth into the next century. Copublished with the British-North American Committee

During the second half of the twentieth century, competition policy has been accorded an increasingly prominent role in the policy portfolios of industrialized nations. Since the late 1940s, when twenty-three nations ratified the first General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), tariff barriers have been progressively reduced throughout much of the industrialized world. The final Uruguay Round negotiations extended GATT's reach to agriculture, services, and intellectual property and clarified policies toward other aspects of trade. While great progress has been made, much remains to be done to integrate the world economy in the 21st century. In this book, part of the Brookings Integrating National Economies series, F. M. Scherer explores the three-way interaction among competition policy, national trading and investment strategies, and international trade policies. Focusing on four nations - the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Japan - he surveys the evolution over two centuries of national trading and competition policies and the points at which they come in conflict. Attempts to harmonize them through multilateral institutions, such as the European Union, are examined. The principal intersections between competition and trade policies are analyzed in depth. Scherer shows how export and import cartels have effects similar to traditional tariff barriers and how restraints implemented to settle trade disputes induce cartelization. Also investigated are the substantially different rules governing price discrimination under trade laws and competition policy, how vertical restraints such as exclusive dealing and resale price maintenance serve as import barriers, and theconflict between industrial policy and competition policy goals as nations choose whether to encourage or restrict mergers. Scherer offers recommendations for substantive and procedural improvements at the interface between trade and competition policies. He proposes a new set of international competition policy institutions that combat avoidable restraints while respecting the need for national sovereignty.

This book covers the consolidation and merger of corporations and corporate divestiture in the United States.