I used to have a mental model that economic growth was about: Figuring out clever ways to do stuff. Doing it. Rich countries are at the technological frontier, so they have to do both of these things at the same time. Since figuring things out is hard, they can’t grow too quickly. But poorer countries can grow faster by just adopting the best ideas from elsewhere. Except… this can’t possibly be right.
Really giving slatestarcodex a run for his money here :)
In general, there seems to be a selection effect among economists to favor spherical cow models. I suppose folks without the spherical cow bias tend to prefer working in business directly to theorizing from the remove of ivory towers.
Probably worth considering impacts of colonial extraction in models... but I'm no economist.
Really giving slatestarcodex a run for his money here :)
In general, there seems to be a selection effect among economists to favor spherical cow models. I suppose folks without the spherical cow bias tend to prefer working in business directly to theorizing from the remove of ivory towers.