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Blink 3 of 8 - The 5 AM Club
by Robin Sharma
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Growth summary
Daniel Susskind
A History and a Reckoning
19 mins
Brief summary
Growth by Daniel Susskind examines the possibilities and limitations of economic and societal growth in the face of technological advancement, exploring crucial questions about sustainability, inequality, and the future of global prosperity.
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Growth
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Escaping the long stagnation
You might think the average Stone Age hunter-gatherer and someone who lived in the eighteenth century didn’t have a lot in common. And in many ways, you’d be right – big changes occurred in the tens of thousands of years that passed between the two, as tools and social structures evolved. But when it came to overall quality of life, humanity remained trapped in economic stagnation. In both eras, people lived precariously, scraping together the basics of survival.
This standstill, termed the Long Stagnation, spanned millennia. There really weren’t any lasting improvements in living standards until the dramatic turning point of the Industrial Revolution.
The history of wages in England has been measured as far back as the thirteenth century. If you were to draw the trajectory of these wages over time on a graph, it looks like a hockey stick – flat for centuries, followed by a sharp rise around the year 1800. Even earlier civilizations like Babylonia and Assyria showed no substantial improvements over preindustrial England. In fact, researchers have found that some hunter-gatherer societies consumed more calories and enjoyed more leisure than laborers in the 1700s, underscoring how deeply entrenched economic stagnation was.
At the heart of this stagnation is the Malthusian trap: a grim cycle described by the British economist Thomas Malthus. As populations grow, he said, they invariably outstrip the food supply, which drags societies back into subsistence. For most of history, humanity couldn’t escape this trap, no matter how hard it worked – until the Industrial Revolution broke the cycle and transformed the trajectory of economic growth.
But what’s the real driving force of this sustainable growth? Early theories like the Harrod-Domar model emphasized investing in physical capital and material resources. But these models revealed that such growth would eventually result in diminishing returns, making accumulation unsustainable.
In the mid-twentieth century came the Solow-Swan model, which shifted the focus to technological progress. It introduced the concept of a “steady state” where innovation, rather than material resources, fueled sustainable growth. The results appeared more promising. Later thinkers like Robert Lucas and Paul Romer refined this understanding, spotlighting the role of human capital and the unique, cumulative nature of ideas. Unlike physical resources, ideas grow in value the more they’re shared, tying economic growth to the generation and dissemination of knowledge.
Ultimately, economic growth isn’t the product of any single factor. It emerges from a complex interplay of innovation, culture, and a relentless drive to advance our understanding of the world. This tapestry of ideas and efforts has shaped the modern world, offering both unparalleled progress and, as we’ll see, profound challenges.
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What is Growth about?
Growth (2024) challenges the long-held belief that economic growth is the ultimate goal for society. It also puts forth a new philosophy that prioritizes environmental sustainability, social equity, and future generations over relentless growth – inviting us to rethink the very foundations of our economy.
Who should read Growth?
- Anyone concerned about the future
- Economists and policymakers
- Environmentalists and social justice advocates
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