The Free Market Innovation Machine by William J. Baumol
Talks about how capitalism works and how its structure innately promotes economic growth.
In his book, William Baumol discusses how capitalism is an unparalleled system as far as the promotion of economic growth is concerned. The main premise of the book is that, while capitalism may have shortcomings as far as economic equality and other arguments that have been made against it are concerned, the spread of technical information and innovation are unprecedented under this system. He also points out that because there is generally money in capitalist systems, it is almost imperative that the economy grow aggressively and promote the spread of new technology. He asserts that, following the Industrial Revolution, “…once capitalism was in place and fully operational, a flow of innovation and the consequent rise in productivity and per capita gross domestic product were to be expected. Whatever the deficiencies of the free market, it is certainly very good at one thing: the manufacture of economic growth.” This book was written for a scholarly or professional audience, as there are rhetorically specific terms and ideas throughout the text. This is a valuable source because it gives a strong analytical look at the metrics and structure of capitalism, and how, as an economic system, it helps to promote economic growth.