Productive transformations and economic theory

Abstract

Only recently have economists concentrated their attention on the revolutionary technological changes in progress and on the associated transformations of the structures of the economy. This has resulted in a proliferation of theoretical attempts which have proposed ambitious refoundations of the dynamic theory in the most varied directions. The problem with economic analysis today, however, is represented not by the changes in technology - which have, of course, always taken place - but by the shift of focus to the process through which such changes are realised. The author argues that rather than new analytical tools or sophisticated models, what is required is to define precisely the object of the analysis, bringing to light in particular the strict relation between the problems considered and the method of analysis adopted.

JEL: O33