ABSTRACT
The topic of technological progress as a driver of change, and its role in economic growth, was introduced briefly in Chapter 2 but not discussed in depth. I want to revisit this topic now because of its vital importance for what follows. Specifically, I address four questions in this chapter:
to what extent is increasing human welfare attributable to science and technological progress rather than to economic growth?
To what extent is technological progress currently a driver of economic growth, and to what extent is the relationship the other way around?
Does technological progress in some domains have a negative impact on economic growth?
What kind of technology is needed for a truly sustainable future? This last question turns out to be rather subtle but also crucial.
There is a potential for confusion here between technological progress and ‘progress’ in the more general, even more undefined sense. Along with many others, I have long tended to carelessly equate economic growth with that undefined kind of progress. Though aware of the difference, I nevertheless assumed for convenience that the one is virtually a surrogate for the other. The time has come to try to sort out this confusion.