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The new economy : background, historical perspective, questions, and speculations

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  • J. Bradford DeLong
  • Lawrence H. Summers

Abstract

In a presentation at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City?s 2001 symposium, ?Economic Policy for the Information Economy,? Professor J. Bradford DeLong of the University of California-Berkeley, and Harvard President Lawrence H. Summers suggested that any attempt to analyze the meaning and importance of the \\"new economy\\" must grapple with four questions:> First, in the long run, how important will ongoing technological revolutions in data processing and data communications turn out to be? Second, what does the crash of the Nasdaq tell us about the future of the new economy? Third, how should government regulation of the economy change so as to maximize the benefits we reap from these ongoing technological revolutions? And fourth, how will the American economy respond to the shock to public confidence and the destruction caused by the terror attacks of September 11?> In exploring answers to these questions, the authors found the following: The long-run economic impact of the ongoing technological revolutions in data processing and data communications will be very large indeed. The crash of the Nasdaq tells us next to nothing about the dimensions of the economic transformation that we are undergoing. It does, however, tell us that the new economy is more likely to be a source of downward pressure on margins than of large durable quasi-rents. The principal effects of the \\"new economy\\" are more likely to be \\"microeconomic\\" than \\"macroeconomic,\\" and they will lead to profound?if at present unclear?changes in how the government should act to provide the property rights, institutional frameworks, and \\"rules of the game\\" that underpin the market economy. And finally, the events of September 11 will slow private investment in new technologies, but U.S. military spending is likely to increase, and the increase in military spending will be concentrated on high-technology data-processing and data-communicat
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  • J. Bradford DeLong & Lawrence H. Summers, 2001. "The new economy : background, historical perspective, questions, and speculations," Proceedings - Economic Policy Symposium - Jackson Hole, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, pages 11-43.
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:fedkpr:y:2001:p:11-43
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. Neumark, David & Reed, Deborah, 2004. "Employment relationships in the new economy," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 11(1), pages 1-31, February.
    3. Noam, Eli M., 2006. "Fundamental instability: Why telecom is becoming a cyclical and oligopolistic industry," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 18(3), pages 272-284, September.
    4. Stephen G. Cecchetti, 2006. "The New Economy and the Challenges for Macroeconomic Policy," Chapters, in: Dennis W. Jansen (ed.), The New Economy and Beyond, chapter 4, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    5. Ioan I. Gâf-Deac & Mohammad Jaradat & Florina Bran & Raluca Florentina Crețu & Daniel Moise & Svetlana Platagea Gombos & Teodora Odett Breaz, 2022. "Similarities and Proximity Symmetries for Decisions of Complex Valuation of Mining Resources in Anthropically Affected Areas," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-22, August.
    6. R. Nahuis & H. van der Wiel, 2005. "How Should Europe’s ICT Ambitions look like? An Interpretative Review of the Facts," Working Papers 05-22, Utrecht School of Economics.
    7. Shortridge, Rebecca Toppe & Smith, Pamela A., 2009. "Understanding the changes in accounting thought," Research in Accounting Regulation, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 11-18.
    8. Aldona Małgorzata Dereń & Jan Skonieczny, 2022. "Green Intellectual Property as a Strategic Resource in the Sustainable Development of an Organization," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-11, April.
    9. TOTH Kornel & HERCZEG Adrienn, 2015. "The Effect Of Globalization On Frameworks And Concepts In Accounting," Annals of Faculty of Economics, University of Oradea, Faculty of Economics, vol. 1(1), pages 968-975, July.

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