The Rise and Fall of American Growth

In The Rise and Fall of American Growth (2016), Robert J. Gordon examines the U.S. standard of living since the Civil War in a direct challenge to the point of view that economic growth will continue in the way that it did between 1870 and 1940. Gordon demonstrates that the life-changing innovations that occurred between 1870 all the way up until 1970 will not be duplicated. He posits that our nation’s productivity and growth will further be inhibited, perhaps even decline, by an aging population, stagnating education, rising inequality, and the increasing debt of college students and the government. He asserts that we must find new solutions if we are to economically thrive once more.

In the century leading up to the Civil War, the American standard of living benefitted from innovations that were previously unimaginable. An economic revolution brought with it indoor plumbing, motor vehicles, air travel, electric lighting, sanitation, and television. This economic and technological period of rapid growth radically altered the way daily life was lived, offering more ease and mobility. Backbreaking physical labor was replaced by jobs requiring far less physical toil, and Gordon reminds us that the conditions under which employment is gained is as significant as the rate of pay.

From 1940 to 1970, there was a mini technological revolution spurred on by the war effort. This was a period of intensification and maturation of the innovations leading to rapidly growing incomes and sprawling modern lifestyles. However, afterward, everything slowed down. Gordon argues that this slow-down is a permanent state. He outwardly challenges the techno-optimists that this period in history is unique and is not likely to ever be repeated on this scale. He acknowledges the impact of computers, the Internet, and cell phones as significant post-1970 innovations, however, he believes that they have a limited impact on productivity.



The Rise and Fall of American Growth is an overview of and tribute to the past century. It is also a harbinger of the tough economic challenges coming our way. A well-researched and well-cited historical accounting of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, heavily armed with tables and charts, Gordon never loses sight of the real people and the real lives behind them.
He offers a baseline of comparison, before 1870 and after 1940. Within this context, the reader is better able to see that even as far back as the 1940s and 1950s, there wasn’t a radical difference in day to day living. In spite of computers and cell phones, the biggest improvements to daily living were indoor plumbing, sanitation, electricity, and automobiles. These significances are incomparable and cannot be overstated.

Robert J. Gordon is a professor of social sciences at Northwestern University. He has written several books, including Productivity Growth, Inflation and Unemployment and Macroeconomics. The Rise and Fall of American Growth was the Association of American Publishers winner of the 2017 PROSE Award in U.S. History, the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants winner of the 2017 PROSE Award in U.S. History, and winner of the 2017 Excellence in Financial Journalism Book Award. It appeared on the Strategy+Business Best Business Books 2016 in Economy, Bloomberg’s Best Books of 2016, Financial Times Best Economics Books of 2016, The Economist’s Economics and Business Books of the Year 2016, Foreign Affairs’ Editors’ Picks 2016, The New York Times 100 Notable Books of 2016, and the Washington Post’s Best Economics Books 2016. A New York Times bestseller, it was shortlisted for the 2016 Financial Times and McKinsey Business Book of the Year Awards and longlisted for the 2016 Cundill Prize in Historical Literature, McGill University. Gordon was thirty-sixth on Bloomberg’s "50 Most Influential" List 2016.