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The cover of The Rise and Fall of American Growth

The Rise and Fall of American Growth

Robert J. Gordon, 2016

Electricity, running water, cars, and medicine remade American life between 1870 and 1970, a change that could happen only once; since 1970, growth has been narrower and slower.

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21 parts, about 42 minutes to read.

Why read it

  • Argues that a single century of inventions like electricity, plumbing and the car transformed American life in a way nothing since has matched
  • Helps you judge claims about digital progress by comparing what changed in homes, jobs and health before and after midcentury
  • Builds its case from detailed household evidence on food, light, water, disease and work, not only from GDP figures

Who it is for

  • Economists and students debating why productivity growth slowed
  • Investors weighing claims of a coming technology boom
  • Readers curious how ordinary daily life was transformed

What the summary covers

  1. The Special Century3 min
  2. Life and Work in 18702 min
  3. What They Ate and Wore2 min
  4. The American Home2 min
  5. Motors Overtake Horses and Rail2 min
  6. From Telegraph to Talkies2 min
  7. Illness and Early Death2 min
  8. Working Conditions on the Job and at Home2 min
  9. Credit, Insurance, and the Government2 min
  10. The Midcentury Shift from Revolution to Evolution1 min
  11. Food, Clothing, and Housing After 19402 min
  12. Cars and Planes After 19402 min
  13. Entertainment and Communications2 min
  14. Computers and the Internet2 min
  15. Health and Medicine After 19402 min
  16. Work, Youth, and Retirement1 min
  17. Toward an Understanding of Slower Growth1 min
  18. The Great Leap Forward3 min
  19. Innovation and the Future2 min
  20. Inequality and the Other Headwinds3 min
  21. The Path Ahead2 min

Recommended by

  • Paul KrugmanNobel laureate in economics
    This is a book well worth reading—a magisterial combination of deep technological history, vivid portraits of daily life over the past six generations and careful economic analysis.
  • Lawrence SummersFormer US Treasury Secretary and Harvard president
    Robert Gordon's The Rise and Fall of American Growth is an extraordinary work of economic scholarship.
  • Tyler CowenProfessor of economics at George Mason University
    The Rise and Fall of American Growth is likely to be the most interesting and important economics book of the year.

About the author

  • Robert J. GordonEconomist and professor of the social sciences at Northwestern University
    • Born 3 September 1940
    • Harvard BA in economics 1962, magna cum laude
    • Oxford degrees as a Marshall Scholar
    • Taught at Harvard and Chicago before joining Northwestern in 1973; Stanley G. Harris Professor from 1987
    • Distinguished Fellow of the American Economic Association 2014
    • Named in the 2016 Bloomberg list of the nation's most influential thinkers

Read it alongside

  • Pushes backThe Second Machine Age

    Gordon expects productivity growth to remain slow over the next quarter century; Brynjolfsson and McAfee see a digital inflection point with most gains still ahead.

  • Goes deeperCapital in the Twenty First Century

    Gordon sees slower growth and inequality squeezing ordinary incomes. Piketty explains how low growth increases the weight of inherited wealth, while capital returns persistently above growth can widen wealth gaps.

  • Goes deeperThe Technological Republic

    Gordon identifies digital innovation concentrated in entertainment, communication and information. Karp and Zamiska argue that capital allocation and concern about public controversy and reputational risk steer talent toward consumer apps.

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