"Until the Industrial Revolution, the economy’s technology, like the skills needed to follow its recipes, was updated only slowly and passed from generation to generation. As technological progress revolutionized production, the time required to make a pair of shoes fell by half in only a few decades; the same was true of spinning and weaving, and of making cakes in a factory. This marked the beginning of a permanent technological revolution because the amount of time required for producing most products fell generation after generation" (Core Econ, Chapter 1).
In today's class we will study this revolution in technological progress and its effects on the global standard of living.
You should have read the following section in Chapter 1 ("The Capitalist Revolution") of Core Econ: 1.4 The permanent technological revolution.
Write a blog post about the sections you read for homework, relating the ideas in the reading to the country you have chosen to study.
Share a question that you would like to discuss as part of our Socratic Discussion today.
Participate in a Socratic Discussion. This rubric will be used to evaluate your blog post and discussion.
Read the following section in Chapter 1 ("The Capitalist Revolution") of Core Econ: 1.3 The Economy and the Environment.
Podcast: In this podcast Robert Solow, Professor Emeritus at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Nobel Laureate, talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about his hugely influential theory of growth and inspiration to create a model that better reflected the stable long-term growth of an economy. Solow contends that capital accumulation cannot explain a significant portion of the economic growth we see. He makes a critical distinction between innovation and technology, and then discusses his views on Milton Friedman and John M. Keynes.