Human Capitalism: How Economic Growth Has Made Us Smarter--and More Unequal

145 Pages·2013·0.94 MB·English

by  Brink Lindsey

Human Capitalism

Brink Lindsey
Human Capitalism
How Economic Growth Has Made Us Smarter—
and More Unequal
PrincEton UnivErSity PrESS
Princeton and Oxford
copyright © 2013 by Princeton University Press
Published by Princeton University Press, 41 William Street,
Princeton, new Jersey 08540
in the United Kingdom: Princeton University Press, 6 oxford Street,
Woodstock, oxfordshire oX20 1tW
press.princeton.edu
All rights reserved
Library of congress cataloging-in-Publication Data
Lindsey, Brink.
Human capitalism : how economic growth has made us smarter-and more
unequal / Brink Lindsey.
pages cm
includes bibliographical references and index.
iSBn 978-0-691-15732-0 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Economic development—
Social aspects. 2. cognition and culture—Economic aspects. 3. capitalism—
Social aspects. 4. Economics—Sociological aspects. i. title.
HD75.L564 2013
330.12'2—dc23
2013001637
British Library cataloging- in- Publication Data is available
This book has been composed in Minion and Helvetica
Printed on acid- free paper. ∞
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
Acknowledgments vii
introduction 1
one The rise of complexity 6
two The Abstract Art of Modern Living 12
Three capitalism with a Human Face 23
Four class and consciousness 31
Five inequality as a culture Gap 41
Six From convergence to Polarization 55
Seven reforming Human capitalism 71
Eight What Lies Ahead 98
notes 117
index 131

Acknowledgments
First and foremost, i want to express deep gratitude to Bob
Litan, my former colleague at the Kauffman Foundation,
for believing in this book, giving me the time and freedom
to write it, and offering guidance and useful feedback along
the way. Thanks also to Seth Ditchik, my editor at Prince-
ton University Press, for all his support and assistance. Eric
Brynjolfsson, Bryan caplan, Sallie James, reihan Salam,
Julian Sanchez, Dane Stangler, Steve teles, Ben Wildavsky,
and Scott Winship read drafts of the manuscript and of-
fered incisive comments that greatly improved the final
product. They are, of course, absolved from responsibility
for all errors and shortcomings that remain.
vii

Introduction
“Things were so much simpler back then . . .”
If you’ve reached a certain age— your forties? thirties?
twenties?— you’ve doubtless uttered this familiar, plaintive
refrain at some point.
And you were right. Because the fact is— and it’s an ex-
tremely important fact— our world is getting more and
more complicated all the time.
There are many reasons, but economic growth is the
biggest. Growth means a more far- flung, more intricate,
more highly specialized division of labor. It means contin-
ued additions to the immense accumulation of knowledge
and know- how dispersed throughout society. And it means
proliferating choices along virtually every dimension of
human existence. Put all that together and you get one of
the defining characteristics of contemporary America: its
overwhelming, incomprehensible complexity.1
The rise in social complexity over the past century or
so— basically, since industrialization took off—h as pro-
1