面對未來,你還能感到樂觀嗎?
內戰結束後的一世紀內,經濟革命以前所未見的方式大幅改善美國生活水平。電燈、抽水馬桶、摩托車、飛機、冷氣、電視等發明,改變了家庭和工作場所的樣貌;醫療進步則延長了平均壽命,從 1870 年的 45 歲增加到 1970 年的 72 歲。結合生動的敘事、歷史軼聞以及經濟分析,《The Rise and Fall of American Growth》深刻回溯了這段重要時期。然而,這個飛躍成長的時代是否已面臨終結?作者Robert Gordon 在書中挑戰了經濟將持續成長的樂觀看法,宣告 1870 至 1970 年間大規模改變生活的發明將成為絕響;除此之外,美國已趨緩的生產力,將因日漸嚴重的貧富不均、教育程度停滯以及人口高齡化而更加悲觀。作者警告,現在的年輕人極有可能成為美國歷史上首批生活水準無法超越父母的世代,而想要克服眼前的挑戰,我們必須尋找新的出路,而非仰賴過去的成就。
《The Rise and Fall of American Growth》除了對經濟停滯的爭論提出批判、向激烈變革的時代致敬,也是一部對於即將來臨的,艱困時刻的預言。(文 / 博客來編譯)
How America's high standard of living came to be and why future growth is under threat
In the century after the Civil War, an economic revolution improved the American standard of living in ways previously unimaginable. Electric lighting, indoor plumbing, motor vehicles, air travel, and television transformed households and workplaces. But has that era of unprecedented growth come to an end? Weaving together a vivid narrative, historical anecdotes, and economic analysis, The Rise and Fall of American Growth challenges the view that economic growth will continue unabated, and demonstrates that the life-altering scale of innovations between 1870 and 1970 cannot be repeated. Gordon contends that the nation's productivity growth will be further held back by the headwinds of rising inequality, stagnating education, an aging population, and the rising debt of college students and the federal government, and that we must find new solutions. A critical voice in the most pressing debates of our time, The Rise and Fall of American Growth is at once a tribute to a century of radical change and a harbinger of tougher times to come.