Tabarrok on the knowledge economy

Dismal Science Sees Upbeat Future - Alex Tabarrok

So imagine this: If China and India were as wealthy as the U.S., the market for cancer drugs would be eight times larger than it is today.
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People used to think that more population was bad for growth. In this view, people are stomachs--they eat, leaving less for everyone else. But once we realize the importance of ideas in the economy, people become brains--they innovate, creating more for everyone else.

New ideas mean more growth, and even small changes in economic growth rates produce large economic and social benefits. At current income levels, with an inflation-adjusted growth rate of 3% per year, America's real per capita gross domestic product would exceed $1 million per year in just over 100 years, more than 22 times higher than it is today. Growth like that could solve many problems.

It's definitely about time for some major works on how the knowledge economy works. There's just not a lot out there and it leads to some real misunderstanding and probably miss communication.

This is a somewhat connected to an earlier post by Tyler Cowen, co-author of Marginal Revolution with Alex Tabarrok. Also my commentary on that post.

Hat tip to Brian Hollar @ Thinking on the Margin.