Is the Economic Growth of America Almost Over?

Bachelor Thesis from the year 2017 in the subject Economics - Case Scenarios, grade: 1,7, University of Constance, language: English, abstract: This paper first introduces different inventions with their historical background in the period from 1870 to 1940, comparing the necessity of the different topics in different periods from 1940 till now.

Afterwards, this papers conducts the analyses, explaining the growth in Total Factor Productivity (TFP) and Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Last but not the least, the economic and social benefits of different inventions are explained widely.

At its end, this paper shows that some inventions like autonomous cars or a futuristic transportation system can give the economy a boost or increase life expectancy. With the smart house, in which life is more convenient, the difference between the past and the future would become visible.

Human existence changed dramatically after the Civil War in the United States. However, thanks to a number of ¿Great Inventions¿ in particular, electricity and the internal combustion engine life began to improve exponentially.

Housing became more comfortable when tied to systems of heat and sewage. Life changed dramatically after innovations that affected housing for instance, indoor plumbing, running water, and sewers. Other life-changing innovations like automobiles, electricity, the airplane, the telephone and many others also helped increase the standards of living in America, but such a phenomenon could have occurred only once.

Inventions lead to incredible growth, but this cannot be continuous. When consumption is fully exhausted, only new inventions can lead to new growth trajectories. Once an invention has been made, it does not mean that it leads to automatic growth.

Invention must be adjusted over a time, and this process leads to steady growth over a decade or a long period of time.

During the period from 1870 to 1940, the change in growth rates was incredible. Till 1870, houses were isolated, but by 1940, they were connected to five important systems, viz., water, gas, telephone, electricity, and possibly the most important one¿sewage. While analysing different types of inventions, it must be said that Gordon (2016) could be right with his predictions that growth is almost over.