Mr. Romer, who joined the faculty of New York University a decade ago, said that preparing for his Nobel lecture in 2018 prompted him to think about the “progress gap” in America. Progress, he explained, is not just a matter of economic growth, but should also be seen in measures of individual and social well-being.
[...]
[Social] problems, to be sure, have many causes, but Mr. Romer believes one contributing cause has been an economics profession that belittled the importance of government. His new growth theory recognized that the government played a vital part in scientific and technological progress, but mainly by funding basic research.
Looking back, Mr. Romer admits that he was caught up in the “small government bubble” of the time. “I substantially underestimated the role of the government in sustaining progress,” he said.
“For real progress, you need both science and government — a government that can say no to things that are bad,” Mr. Romer said.
I LOVED this article--I think capitalism is a good economic system but desperately needs more regulation. And re: regulation, I get particularly concerned about the tech sector since it innovates so much faster than the government can keep up or even fully understand. I’m glad there’s nonprofits working to help bring tech leaders into government or connect governments with tech workers to digitize services. There’s so much potential in public-private collaboration that we just haven’t delved into.Â
