Introduction

Abstract

This chapter discusses four distinct processes of economic growth: a) Solovian growth, in honor of Robert Solow; b) Smithian growth, Adam Smith's mechanism of growth; c) scale or size effects, which maintained that population growth itself can lead to per capita income growth; and Schumpeterian growth, by Joseph A. Schumpeter. It focuses on the Schumpeterian form of economic growth, which usually accompanies technological change. The chapter discusses technological change dealing with other forms of economic growth only insofar as they touch upon technological change directly. It points out that technological creativity is analyzed largely as a social, rather than an individual, phenomenon. The chapter focuses on why there were, and whether there still are, societies that have more creative individuals in them than others, and discusses the question that lies at the foundation of the issue of issues: Why does economic growth (at least of the Schumpeterian type) occur in some societies and not others?