The Long Wave in the World Economy

Is it a mere coincidence that the world economy was depressed in the 1930s and again in the 1980s, just as Nikolai Kondratieff had predicted in 1925? Or do the theories of long waves - alternate long upswings and downswings lasting together about half a century - have real explanatory and predictive power? And if so, why have economic historians found little evidence of regular long waves before Kondratieff wrote? "The Long Wave and the World Economy" finds that the only regular "wave", since the 18th century, has been in technological change. The long rhythms of the economy have, until recently, been irregular. Andrew Tylecote shows how technology, national and international inequality, war and social change, gold rushes and demography, have contributed to the dynamics of economic growth. He also demonstrates how the current downswing has meshed with an ecological crisis which must be addressed before a new world boom can begin.