The Diversity, Complexity, and Evolution of High Tech Capitalism

by Sten A. Thore

Overview

In his book "Jurassic Park" (and in the movie based on the book), Michael Crichton describes a crazed professor who through techniques of genetic engineering manages to recreate the dinosaurs and giant ferns of 65 million years past. Once the giant Tyrannosaurus Rex is brought to life. a powerful dynamics sets in: evolution. The prehistoric world embarks on a collision course with man. Researching his book, Crichton had been reading up on paleontology and on the mathematical theory of evolution, catastrophes, and chaos. Crichton explains some of the twists of nonlinear mathematics that are rewriting not only thermodynamics, physics, and chemistry (that all grapple with evolving and turbulent processes) but also paleontology, genetics, medicine and even anthropology. Collapse and chaos is not limited to prehistoric animal kingdoms and ancient civilizations. The collapse of the Soviet Union and the political and economic chaos in its aftermath demonstrate that modern civilizations are just as vulnerable. This book aims at reexamining some main portions of the discipline of economics from the point of view of economic change and creativity. There are two aspects to this perspective. First, diversity and complexity. The range of different kinds of high technology products available to consumers and producers increases rapidly. Each product is the result of a long and complex production hierarchy. As these hierarchies grow, they deliver ever more diversified and complex high tech goods. Other hierarchies fall by the wayside.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9789401042888
Publisher:	Springer Netherlands
Publication date:	09/27/2012
Edition description:	Softcover reprint of the original 1st ed. 1995
Pages:	203
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.02(d)

Table of Contents

1 — The Changing Face of Capitalism.- Stumbling Giants and a New Breed of Startup Companies.- Economic Diversity.- What is High Technology?.- Technological Evolution at the Edge of Chaos.- The Collision with the Environment.- Where Did Marx Go Wrong?.- The Freedom to Create.- Bibliographic Notes.- References.- 2 — New Webs and New Constituencies 19.- What is a Strategic Alliance?.- Universities and Federal Laboratories: The New Breeding Grounds for High Tech Companies.- References.- 3 — Messages, Images, and Robots.- The Bewildering Future of the Telephone.- Supercomputers and Parallel Processing.- Artificial Intelligence.- Robots: Slaves or Masters?.- Bibliographic Notes.- References.- 4 — The Technology Frontier.- The Rise and The Fall of the Passenger Train.- What is Productivity?.- Pushing the Technology Envelope.- Complexity and Evolution: The Santa Fe Institute.- Bibliographic Notes.- References.- 5 — Economic Logistics.- The Dimensions and Mathematical Techniques of Economic Logistics.- Innovation and Technological Change in an Industry Network.- Budding and Cross-Fertilization.- Bibliographic Notes.- References.- 6 — Of Princes, Diplomacy, and Battle Cries.- The Strategies of Takeovers and Acquisitions.- Capital Gains: How to Make Them.- The Anatomy of a Hostile Takeover: RJR Nabisco.- Are Corporate Raiders Good or Bad for Industry?.- Bibliographic Notes.- 7 — The Long Waves: Evolution or Chaos?.- The Long Swings.- Reversible and Irreversible Time.- The Ebbs and Tides of Basic Innovations.- The Diffusion of New Technology and New Products.- The Possibility of Chaos.- Turbulence and Shake-Out in U.S. Industry.- Bibliographic Notes.- References.- 8 — Genetic Selection and Biotechnology.- Early Technology on the Farm.- The Creation of New Varietiesand New Species through Hybridization and Selection.- Pesticides and Herbicides.- Genetic Engineering on the Farm.- Genetically Engineered Drugs.- The Biotech Boom, and the Food and Drug Administration.- Ethical Questions: Are We Playing God?.- Bibliographic Notes.- References.- 9 — Combustion, Fission, and Fusion.- Are We Running out of Oil?.- The Hidden Costs of Oil.- Coal and Natural Gas.- Don’t Drink the Water and Don’t Breathe the Air.- Nuclear Fission and Nuclear Fusion.- Yin and Yang.- Bibliographic Notes.- References.- 10 — Ventures and Start-up Companies.- Silicon Valley: the First Technopolis.- The R&D Consortium.- The Business of Incubation: Breeding and Nurturing New Companies.- Venture Capital.- Enterprise Zones.- References.- 11- Riches From Junk.- Background: The Market for Government Treasury Bonds.- Corporate Bonds: Investment Grade and Below Investment Grade.- Michael Milken: Financial Genius or a Criminal?.- The Importance of High-Risk Debt.- The Future of Junk.- Bibliographic Notes.- References.- 12 — Thrifts and Banks in Turmoil.- The Savings and Loan Debacle.- Financial Innovation: Packaging and Re-packaging Mortgage Securities.- Electronic Money.- The Sorry Story of U.S. Banking.- Bibliographic Notes.- References.- 13 — The Social Management Of Technology: Where Are We Headed?.- The Blessings and Curses of Technology.- How Can Society Manage Technology.- Regulation.- Hearings and Licensing.- Industrial Policy.- Technological Infrastructure.- Commercialization Policy.- The Swarming of High Technology.- The Management of the Future.- Bibliographic Notes.- References.- References.- Index of Corporations and Executive Officers.- About the Author.

Editorial Reviews

An ode to economic change and creativity using evolution as its primary analogy, and arguing that the US economy is in a "phase transition" out of which a "new and higher order of capitalism" will develop and thrive. Kozmetsky (senior research scientist and economics instructor, U. of Texas, Austin) looks at the technology frontier from a retrospective vantage (telephones to robots), considering the economic and social logistics of high tech firms, nuclear power, biotechnology, and electronic banking. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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