Throughout American history, periodic cycles of economic change have fundamentally reordered the way we work, the organization of business and markets, the role of government, and even the nature of politics. If we are to control our future, we must understand this process of change. These economic transformations are powered by the emergence of waves of new technologies. In the 1890s, the development of electricity and cheap steel led to a new, factory-based economy. In the 1940s and 1950s, automation and advances in electronics and chemicals created a new national corporate, mass-production economy. Since the 1990s, an information technology revolution has again created a robust New Economy. Robert Atkinson examines this process of change over the past 150 years and explores the responses of people and institutions. The book then analyzes today's New Economy, including the new information technology system, and effects on markets, organizations, workers, and governance. Taking into account the historical record, the book discusses the shortcomings of prevailing liberal and conservative economic doctrines and lays out a new growth economics agenda aimed at maximizing the productivity-enhancing forces of the New Economy. Anyone interested in American history as well as the future contours of our economy will find Dr Atkinson's insightful analyses a fascinating guide to the past and a provocative challenge for the future. Economists, business leaders, scholars, and economic policymakers will find it a necessary addition to the literature on economic cycles and growth economics.

Supply-Side Follies is a progressive political and economic challenge to the current George W. Bush policies. It debunks commonly held assumptions of conservative economic policies centered on the obsession that tax cuts led to greater productivity and prosperity. These fundamentally flawed policies are setting the United States up for a major economic downturn in the near future. The 21st century knowledge economy requires a fundamentally different approach to boosting growth than simply cutting taxes on the richest investors. The alternative is not, however, to resurrect old Keynesian, populist economics as too many Democrats hope to do. Rather, as Rob Atkinson makes clear, our long-term national welfare and prosperity depends on new economic strategy that fits the realities of the 21st century global, knowledge-based economy: innovation-based growth economics.

Throughout American history, periodic cycles of economic change have fundamentally reordered the way we work, the organization of business and markets, the role of government, and even the nature of politics. If we are to control our future, we must understand this process of change. These economic transformations are powered by the emergence of waves of new technologies. In the 1890s, the development of electricity and cheap steel led to a new, factory-based economy. In the 1940s and 1950s, automation and advances in electronics and chemicals created a new national corporate, mass-production economy. Since the 1990s, an information technology revolution has again created a robust New Economy. Robert Atkinson examines this process of change over the past 150 years and explores the responses of people and institutions. The book then analyzes today's New Economy, including the new information technology system, and effects on markets, organizations, workers, and governance. Taking into account the historical record, the book discusses the shortcomings of prevailing liberal and conservative economic doctrines and lays out a new growth economics agenda aimed at maximizing the productivity-enhancing forces of the New Economy. Anyone interested in American history as well as the future contours of our economy will find Dr Atkinson's insightful analyses a fascinating guide to the past and a provocative challenge for the future. Economists, business leaders, scholars, and economic policymakers will find it a necessary addition to the literature on economic cycles and growth economics.

Why America no longer leads the world in innovation, why we should be concerned, and what must be done about it This important book delivers a critical wake-up call: a fierce global race for innovation advantage is under way, and while other nations are making support for technology and innovation a central tenet of their economic strategies and policies, America lacks a robust innovation policy. What does this portend? Robert Atkinson and Stephen Ezell, widely respected economic thinkers, report on profound new forces that are shaping the global economy-forces that favor nations with innovation-based economies and innovation policies. Unless the United States enacts public policies to reflect this reality, Americans face the relatively lower standards of living associated with a noncompetitive national economy. The authors explore how a weak innovation economy not only contributed to the Great Recession but is delaying America's recovery from it and how innovation in the United States compares with that in other developed and developing nations. Atkinson and Ezell then lay out a detailed, pragmatic road map for America to regain its global innovation advantage by 2020, as well as maximize the global supply of innovation and promote sustainable globalization.

The digitally-enabled economy is unleashing a new wave of change, something we are only just beginning to feel and understand. The economic evidence shows that this innovation-the development and adoption of new products, services, processes and business models-is vital to support rising living standards. But making the political case for the progressive power of innovation, and the digital economy, can be more challenging. The forces of "creative destruction" threaten incumbent firms, jobs, and the way people work and live, creating strong incentives to oppose change. Confronting these hard realities is one of the defining challenges for progressive politics in the twenty-first century. This collection of essays aims to explore how progressives can embrace the power and promise of innovation through ICT and the digital economy, while developing new institutions to enable societies to cope with the new challenges and risks that this heralds.

Supply-Side Follies is a progressive political and economic challenge to the current George W. Bush policies. It debunks commonly held assumptions of conservative economic policies centered on the obsession that tax cuts led to greater productivity and prosperity. These fundamentally flawed policies are setting the United States up for a major economic downturn in the near future. The 21st century knowledge economy requires a fundamentally different approach to boosting growth than simply cutting taxes on the richest investors. The alternative is not, however, to resurrect old Keynesian, populist economics as too many Democrats hope to do. Rather, as Rob Atkinson makes clear, our long-term national welfare and prosperity depends on new economic strategy that fits the realities of the 21st century global, knowledge-based economy: innovation-based growth economics.