The Solow model and ideas
Religion & Liberty Online

The Solow model and ideas

Note: This is post #84 in a weekly video series on basic economics.

According to previous videos in this series, the Solow model seems to predict that we’ll always end up in a steady state with no economic growth. But, the Solow model still has one variable unaccounted for: ideas.

Ideas do one thing really well, says Alex Tabarrok of Marginal Revolution University, they give us more bang for our buck. This means we get more output for the same inputs of capital and labor. Ideas are a way of upping our productivity, increasing output per worker across different industries.

(If you find the pace of the videos too slow, I’d recommend watching them at 1.5 to 2 times the speed. You can adjust the speed at which the video plays by clicking on “Settings” (the gear symbol) and changing “Speed” from normal to 1.25, 1.5 or 2.)

Click here to see other videos in the Introduction to Economics series.

Joe Carter

Joe Carter is a senior writer for The Gospel Coalition, author of The Life and Faith Field Guide for Parents, the editor of the NIV Lifehacks Bible, and coauthor of How to Argue Like Jesus: Learning Persuasion from History’s Greatest Communicator. He also serves as an associate pastor at McLean Bible Church in Arlington, Va.