Which Economics? Which Economies?

Abstract

It is argued that the problems affecting our societies at present are not so much the result of a mysterious disappearance of inventiveness and imagination, as Phelps deplores. It is rather the dramatic change of the socio-economic order propelled by the neoliberal ideology that captured the minds of many people and politicians. This led to a de-regulation of financial markets and a policy of austerity, which triggered the 'Great Recession' and stifled innovation. There is also the problem of a mismatch between our measurement devices and what is to be measured in a world of bits and bytes. With the firm establishment and growth of R&D&I in all Western economies the talk about a declining innovativeness ought to be received with suspicion. New materials and rare earths, biotechnology, further advances in ICT and what is called the fourth industrial revolution based on cyber-physical systems can be expected to have an important impact on economic performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]