High tech,basic industry,and the future of the american economy

A growing number of economists, public policy analysts, and government officials have heralded a transformation said to be occurring in the American economy. The American-in-transformation thesis holds that new high-tech information-oriented industries are replacing basic industries as the primary source of America's economic stability and growth. This thesis, the authors point out, overstates the extent of the changes which are taking place. According to the best available projections, basic industries will continue to be an important sector of the American economy. Further, basic industries will serve as markets for high-tech products and services as they modernize their operations. Both sectors of the economy will be needed to sustain an integrated, two-track economy.     

The socioeconomic view of redevelopment ∗

In recent years the USA economy has exhibited signs of becoming a member of a category of economy best termed underdeveloping. In this article an explicitly socioeconomic framework is adopted which suggests ways in which such economies can redevelop. This model stresses the need to prepare the infrastructure and capital goods sectors before mass consumption of goods and services is undertaken. The model indicates that any specific societal system must attend to a specific set of needs. In the context at hand, this leads to the hypothesis that if a fair level of economic growth is to be sustained, there are seven needs which must be answered adequately and in some rough co-ordination with each other. If one or more are neglected, development will be strained, and the nature of the strain can be ‘derived’ from the neglected needs. If several elements are weak or have deterorated, economic development may cease if not be reversed.     

The Post Affluent Society

Discomfort about the overarching goal of capitalist economies, and the idea that achieving ever higher levels of consumption of products and services is a vacuous goal, has been with us since the onset of industrialization. This contribution looks at the phenomenon and foundations of voluntary simplicity. Its psychological implications and consequences for societies are discussed.     

Behavioural Economics: Next Steps

This essay briefly reviews select key accomplishments of a young field, behavioural economics, and then turns to suggest additional steps that are called for by the nature of the subject (economic behaviour) and the approach to its study embodied in this relatively new field (for a previous such survey, please see Fudenberg (Journal of Economic Literature, 44:694–711, 2006)).