Boom: Bubbles and the End of Stagnation
A timely investigation of the causes of technological and scientific stagnation, and a radical blueprint for accelerating innovation.

“Read this book for the alternative history of our age.”
—Peter Thiel, investor and author of Zero to One

“A must-read for those who seek to build the future.”
—Marc Andreessen, cofounder of Netscape and Andreessen Horowitz

From the Moon landing to the dawning of the atomic age, the decades prior to the 1970s were characterized by the routine invention of transformative technologies at breakneck speed. By comparison, ours is an age of stagnation. Median wage growth has slowed, inequality and income concentration are on the rise, and scientific research has become increasingly expensive and incremental.

Why are we unable to replicate the rate of progress of past decades? What can we do to reinvigorate innovation?

In Boom, Byrne Hobart and Tobias Huber take an inductive approach to the problem. In a series of case studies tracking some of the most significant breakthroughs of the past 100 years—from the Manhattan Project and the Apollo program to fracking and Bitcoin—they reverse-engineer how transformative progress arises from small groups with a unified vision, vast funding, and surprisingly poor accountability. They conclude that financial bubbles, while often maligned as destructive and destabilizing forces, have in fact been the engine of past breakthroughs and will drive future advances. In other words: Bubbles aren’t all bad.

Integrating insights from economics, philosophy, and history, Boom identifies the root causes of the Great Stagnation and provides a blueprint for accelerating innovation. By decreasing collective risk aversion, overfunding experimental processes, and organizing high-agency individuals around a transcendent mission, bubbles are the key to realizing a future that is radically different from the present. Boom offers a definite and optimistic vision of our future—and a path to unleash a new era of global prosperity.
1145563799
Boom: Bubbles and the End of Stagnation
A timely investigation of the causes of technological and scientific stagnation, and a radical blueprint for accelerating innovation.

“Read this book for the alternative history of our age.”
—Peter Thiel, investor and author of Zero to One

“A must-read for those who seek to build the future.”
—Marc Andreessen, cofounder of Netscape and Andreessen Horowitz

From the Moon landing to the dawning of the atomic age, the decades prior to the 1970s were characterized by the routine invention of transformative technologies at breakneck speed. By comparison, ours is an age of stagnation. Median wage growth has slowed, inequality and income concentration are on the rise, and scientific research has become increasingly expensive and incremental.

Why are we unable to replicate the rate of progress of past decades? What can we do to reinvigorate innovation?

In Boom, Byrne Hobart and Tobias Huber take an inductive approach to the problem. In a series of case studies tracking some of the most significant breakthroughs of the past 100 years—from the Manhattan Project and the Apollo program to fracking and Bitcoin—they reverse-engineer how transformative progress arises from small groups with a unified vision, vast funding, and surprisingly poor accountability. They conclude that financial bubbles, while often maligned as destructive and destabilizing forces, have in fact been the engine of past breakthroughs and will drive future advances. In other words: Bubbles aren’t all bad.

Integrating insights from economics, philosophy, and history, Boom identifies the root causes of the Great Stagnation and provides a blueprint for accelerating innovation. By decreasing collective risk aversion, overfunding experimental processes, and organizing high-agency individuals around a transcendent mission, bubbles are the key to realizing a future that is radically different from the present. Boom offers a definite and optimistic vision of our future—and a path to unleash a new era of global prosperity.
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Boom: Bubbles and the End of Stagnation

Boom: Bubbles and the End of Stagnation

Boom: Bubbles and the End of Stagnation

Boom: Bubbles and the End of Stagnation

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Overview

A timely investigation of the causes of technological and scientific stagnation, and a radical blueprint for accelerating innovation.

“Read this book for the alternative history of our age.”
—Peter Thiel, investor and author of Zero to One

“A must-read for those who seek to build the future.”
—Marc Andreessen, cofounder of Netscape and Andreessen Horowitz

From the Moon landing to the dawning of the atomic age, the decades prior to the 1970s were characterized by the routine invention of transformative technologies at breakneck speed. By comparison, ours is an age of stagnation. Median wage growth has slowed, inequality and income concentration are on the rise, and scientific research has become increasingly expensive and incremental.

Why are we unable to replicate the rate of progress of past decades? What can we do to reinvigorate innovation?

In Boom, Byrne Hobart and Tobias Huber take an inductive approach to the problem. In a series of case studies tracking some of the most significant breakthroughs of the past 100 years—from the Manhattan Project and the Apollo program to fracking and Bitcoin—they reverse-engineer how transformative progress arises from small groups with a unified vision, vast funding, and surprisingly poor accountability. They conclude that financial bubbles, while often maligned as destructive and destabilizing forces, have in fact been the engine of past breakthroughs and will drive future advances. In other words: Bubbles aren’t all bad.

Integrating insights from economics, philosophy, and history, Boom identifies the root causes of the Great Stagnation and provides a blueprint for accelerating innovation. By decreasing collective risk aversion, overfunding experimental processes, and organizing high-agency individuals around a transcendent mission, bubbles are the key to realizing a future that is radically different from the present. Boom offers a definite and optimistic vision of our future—and a path to unleash a new era of global prosperity.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781953953476
Publisher: Stripe Matter, Inc.
Publication date: 11/19/2024
Pages: 304
Sales rank: 296,454
Product dimensions: 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.00(d)

About the Author

Byrne Hobart is an investor, consultant, and writer. He is the author of The Diff, a daily newsletter covering inflection points in finance and technology. He is also a founding partner at Anomaly, a frontier tech investment firm.

Tobias Huber is a writer and investor. He is a founding partner at Anomaly, a frontier tech investment firm. He has a background in philosophy and holds a doctor of science degree from ETH Zurich.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Doom and Boom

Part I: Stagnation 
Chapter 1: The Ideology of Stasis
Chapter 2: From Bust to Boom: Bubbles as Innovation Accelerators

Part II: Acceleration 
Chapter 3: The Manhattan Project 
Chapter 4: The Apollo Program
Chapter 5: Moore’s law
Chapter 6: The Golden Age of Corporate R & D
  Chapter 7: Fracking
Chapter 8: Bitcoin

Part III: Escape
Chapter 9: Unleashing Prometheus? Technology as Salvation

Acknowledgments
About the Authors
Bibliography
Index
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