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Two Books for the Price of One: Review Article of The Rise and Fall of American Growth by Robert J. Gordon

Author

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  • Daniel E. Sichel

Abstract

Robert Gordon has written a remarkable book; actually two "books," one about the past and one about the future. The first "book" is an account of the dramatic changes in American living standards since 1870. Looking forward, the second "book" makes the case that the miracles that powered the economy upward in the century to 1970 cannot be repeated and that the rate of economic growth has stepped down. Moreover, given headwinds facing the economy, Gordon argues that the typical American family will see only sluggish improvements in living standards. The first "book" is truly extraordinary in its coverage and creativity - it is insightful, compelling, and highly entertaining (and would be for noneconomists as well as economists). The second "book" - not so much. It is more speculative and controversial. While Gordon's more pessimistic narrative has gained significant traction, I argue that there is plenty of room for optimism.

Suggested Citation

  • Daniel E. Sichel, 2016. "Two Books for the Price of One: Review Article of The Rise and Fall of American Growth by Robert J. Gordon," International Productivity Monitor, Centre for the Study of Living Standards, vol. 31, pages 57-62, Fall.
    • Handle: RePEc:sls:ipmsls:v:31:y:2016:4
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    File URL: http://www.csls.ca/ipm/31/sichel.pdf
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Diewert, W. Erwin & Fox, Kevin J., 2019. "Money and the Measurement of Total Factor Productivity," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 84-89.
    2. Brynjolfsson, Erik & Collis, Avinash & Diewert, Erwin & Eggers, Felix & FOX, Kevin J., 2019. "GDP-B: Accounting for the Value of New and Free Goods in the Digital Economy," Microeconomics.ca working papers erwin_diewert-2019-6, Vancouver School of Economics, revised 27 Mar 2019.
    3. Alexander Murray, 2017. "What Explains the Post-2004 U.S.Productivity Slowdown?," CSLS Research Reports 2017-05, Centre for the Study of Living Standards.
    4. Diewert, Erwin & Fox, Kevin J., 2019. "Productivity Indexes and National Statistics: Theory, Methods and Challenges," Microeconomics.ca working papers erwin_diewert-2019-8, Vancouver School of Economics, revised 25 Apr 2019.
    5. Tang, Jianmin & Wang, Weimin, 2020. "Technological frontier, technical efficiency and the post-2000 productivity slowdown in Canada," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 12-25.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Productivity; Productivity Growth; Economic Growth; Living Standards; Review;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D24 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Production; Cost; Capital; Capital, Total Factor, and Multifactor Productivity; Capacity
    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • Y30 - Miscellaneous Categories - - Book Reviews - - - Book Reviews
    • O47 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Empirical Studies of Economic Growth; Aggregate Productivity; Cross-Country Output Convergence
    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being

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