Economics of the future

Economics has historically been the study of allocation of scarce resources. But some scientists and philosphers have been arguing for the past few decades that technological and political developments have moved humanity passed scarcity and into an age of abundance; people are starving in Africa now because we can’t get food to them, not because the food can’t be produced. Back in 1983, G, Harry Stine (writing under the nom de plume of Lee Corry) published Manna, a novel which took this change as its inspiration. I wish the book was not out of print, I’d love to re-read it in light of the last 18 years.

In an interview in reason, economist Paul Romer, one of the most important thinkers of recent years, explains the New Growth Theory, one of the first attempts to transform eonomics to deal with the new reality. One question cuts to the heart of his proposition: why has such substantial economic growth occured in the past two centruies and not in, say, ancient Rome or Ming China? Romer says that the institutions (universities and corporations) and political systems (freedom and capitalism) of today give the economy the ability to operate on a different basis, especially freedom. A very interesting read, recommended