By Phelps, Edmund

Capitalism & Society Vol. 16, Issue 1 (Jun 2022)

Date Published: Jun 17, 2022

Abstract

This paper, adapted from a presentation at the Center on Capitalism and Society in November 2021, is in three parts. The first notes the demands being made by various groups of actors in the economy. The second, recalling the principles of Frank Ramsey on the optimum national saving and John Rawls on optimum wage distribution in a neoclassical economy, ponders how far society will want to go beyond these beginnings. The third brings in my thesis on what is, for most people, the huge importance of work—particularly work’s role in the good life—and on the role of capitalism in enriching work and enabling grassroots innovation.

Keywords

Dynamism, Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth, Economic Development: Income Distribution, Innovation, Research and Development, Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives, Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity, Employment, Unemployment, Wages