"The 13 essays assembled in this collection are the fruit of 40 years of study of the process of economic growth here [in the U.S.] and in Japan and Western Europe by a preeminent scholar of the subject. The first of the four parts deals with the change in economists' approach to the phenomenon over this period. Five essays in the second part analyze the proximate causes of long-term economic change, including the contributions of capital formation, education, and technology. The third part comprises two celebrated essays on long swings in U.S. economic growth. The final section deals with growth and welfare." Anna J. Schwartz in the Key Reporter