Science and the Wealth of Nations: The Physics of Economic Growth

As Paul Krugman pointed out in his 2013 New York Times Op-Ed piece entitled The New Growth Fizzle, idea-based growth theory has been a bust. In this volume, an alternative approach is presented, one that, unlike existing growth theory, is consistent with the laws that govern material processes in general, with the historical record from time immemorial, and with data. Specifically, it provides compelling rationalizations of the 1970s productivity slowdown, Robert Solow’s information paradox and the failure of policy in Western industrialized nations to restore growth rates. Drawing from classical mechanics and thermodynamics, it provides a consilient account of the material processes that were the very subject of political economy in the 19th century and economics in the 20th and 21st centuries.