Growing Prosperity: The Battle for Growth with Equity in the Twenty-first Century [Paperback]

Barry Bluestone (Author), Bennett Harrison (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 2, 2001

In this elegantly argued book, political economists Barry Bluestone and Bennett Harrison examine America's great surge of economic expansion in its historical context to demonstrate the causes for the vibrancy of our economy.
A Century Foundation Book

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

To many observers, the strong performance of the U.S. economy in recent years may seem mysterious. Most mainstream economists credit the Wall Street-Pennsylvania Avenue Accord, "based on balanced federal budgets, free trade, flexible labor markets, and a firm monetary policy," for our economic success. While acknowledging the benefits of these factors, Bluestone, a professor of political economy at Northeastern University, and Harrison, who until his death last January was a professor at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government (coauthors of The Deindustrialization of America, etc.), find the source of our growth elsewhere, in increased productivity. They begin by examining a perplexing period in American economic life, between 1973 and 1995, in which productivity growth was a mere 1.2%. The conundrum is how to explain the rise in productivity growth to 2.0% since 1996. Bluestone and Harrison claim that the increase and resulting gains in GDP have occurred as a result of improvements in information technology. As in their previous writings, the authors challenge conventional thinking. Unrepentant Keynesians, Bluestone and Harrison argue persuasively for replacing the Wall Street model with pro-Main Street policies, contending that renewed government investment in research and development and infrastructure, the promotion of liberalized trade with environmental and worker protections, rising wages and greater employment security can advance social justice and economic growth simultaneously.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Bluestone (political economy, Northeastern Univ.) and the late Harrison (Kennedy Sch. of Government, Harvard) have produced a scholarly, well-written, and very readable book on current economic policy and issues. After tracing the history of the U.S. economy since the end of World War II, the authors examine the current state of the economy. They note the role of technology and its effect on productivity and current economic policy and agree that low inflation and a budget surplus contribute to our present prosperity. But they emphasize that to help ensure continued growth, government spending in areas such as infrastructure, research and development, and education must take priority. Government policies regarding labor and wages must also be changed to gurarantee that the population can afford to take advantage of all that technology has to offer. The authors' perspective offers students, professionals, and others interested in political science, economics, and business a much-needed reassessment of our current and future prospects. A good choice for large public and academic libraries.
-Steven J. Mayover, Free Lib. of Philadelphia
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 360 pages
• Publisher: University of California Press (April 2, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0520230701
• ISBN-13: 978-0520230705
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,327,858 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Throwing light on technological long waves., April 23, 2000

By 

larens imanyuel (Berkeley, California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Growing Prosperity (Hardcover)

Using historical data on the rate of increase of productivity, these authors build a convincing case that the United States is near the beginning of an economic boom based on information technlogy. They go well beyond most economists in explaining the nature of economic long waves (also called Kondratieff waves). They then explain in depth how current government economic policies are misdirected in terms of maximizing this pattern of economic growth.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A New Model for Economic Growth, December 3, 2002

By 

Andy Hartwell - See all my reviews

This review is from: Growing Prosperity: The Battle for Growth with Equity in the Twenty-first Century (Paperback)

We've all heard about the great economic miracle of the past twenty years. What we haven't heard, though, is that the rate of growth has significantly slowed from pre-1973 levels. This book explains why, and shows that we may be able to achieve high growth rates again. The authors criticize the "Wall Street Model" of growth, which stresses low inflation and enhanced savings. This model, they say, leads to increased inequality and slower growth. The authors present an alternative "Main Street Model" which instead stresses technological innovation as the main driver of growth. The keys to increasing technological innovation are public investments in R&D and infrastructure, as well as increasing demand through higher minimum wages and a stronger role for unions. This book coherently presents this new model of growth and explains why the Wall Street model is flawed. This book has an unashamedly left-wing bias and some people may be put off by the more opinionated parts of this book. I found myself wishing the authors would stick to facts instead of shoving ideas in your face that can't be backed up. In one part of the book the authors discuss the "neoclassical growth syllogism" and try to show how flawed it is. To do this, they examine each premise of the syllogism and assign a seemingly arbitrary percentage describing how true the premise is. You just can't do that. If you give me a number, you better be able to support it with facts or else you're wasting my time. These authors are probably well educated and they should know better than to whimsically pull numbers out of their [fundaments.]