Strategy+business describes Carlota Perez as the most significant proponent of long-wave theory, and she is a visiting senior research fellow at the Cambridge Endowment for Research in Finance at Cambridge University. — Carlota Perez: The Thought Leader Interview - strategy+business.

Infographic for "Lessons from Carlota Perez".

The Nature of Technological Revolutions

  1. On Unleashing the Potential With Demand: Carlota Perez: "The potential of a technological revolution to increase productivity and wealth creation needs to be unleashed by creating the right context, including demand." — Why everybody –including business– should support the Green New Deal.
  2. On Technology Risk Versus Market Risk: Carlota Perez: "At that time the technology risk is very low – the paradigm is clear and innovators know what can be done – but the market risks can be very high." — Second Machine Age or Fifth Technological Revolution? (Part 5). Does technology determine the future? Socio-political shaping as a recurring need within the unique space of the possible.
  3. On Canals and Turnpikes: Carlota Perez: "The canals and turnpike roads, water wheels and machinery of the first surge began to diffuse across Britain in the 1770s, but only made a real difference to the economy after the turn of the century." — Second Machine Age or Fifth Technological Revolution? (Part 4). The historical patterns of bounty and spread.
  4. On the Obsolete Mass-Production Model of Education: Carlota Perez: "The old mass production model of massive, once and for all education, with various exit points defining the future options of each person, is obsolete and inadequate." — Second Machine Age or Fifth Technological Revolution? (Part 9). The socio-political shaping of a better future with an understanding of the nature of the new technologies.
  5. On the Building Blocks of the Victorian Boom: Carlota Perez: "The key building blocks for that Victorian boom had been put in place in the previous two decades by the railway mania and refinements to the steam engine." — Second Machine Age or Fifth Technological Revolution? (Part 3). The current moment: beginning of a new machine age and/or the turning point of the fifth great surge?.
  6. On Stagflation: Carlota Perez: "Stagflation settled in because the prevailing technologies could no longer increase productivity, while the previous upward pressures on input costs and labour were still acting." — Second Machine Age or Fifth Technological Revolution? (Part 5). Does technology determine the future? Socio-political shaping as a recurring need within the unique space of the possible.
  7. On Systemic Change: Carlota Perez: "Systemic change in the economy requires a systemic response across the board, not just band-aid solutions for each of the problems encountered in the process of creative destruction that characterises such major technology shifts." — Second Machine Age or Fifth Technological Revolution? (Part 9). The socio-political shaping of a better future with an understanding of the nature of the new technologies.
  8. On Copying the American Way of Life: Carlota Perez: "Indeed, the emerging and developing countries will soon confront resource and environmental limits if they are to copy the ‘American Way of Life’." — Second Machine Age or Fifth Technological Revolution? (Part 7). The limits of the Brynjolfsson and McAfee policy recipes: Proposals on science, technology and infrastructures.

The Phases of a Technological Revolution

  1. On Why It Is Called Installation: Carlota Perez: "I call the first half Installation, because we’re installing the new technology in the economy, and the new paradigm in the business and culture." — Carlota Perez: The Thought Leader Interview.
  2. On Financing Finance: Carlota Perez: "Investors have learned to avoid the risks of real production concentrating on financing finance in a casino atmosphere, where investing has become much more like betting." — Second Machine Age or Fifth Technological Revolution? (Part 8). The limits of the Brynjolfsson and McAfee policy recipes: Proposals on fiscal stability and welfare.
  3. On the Price of Great Booms: Carlota Perez: "That's the price we've historically paid for our ability to reach great booms. The collapse has to be disastrous enough to make it clear to everyone that the time when the stock market drives the growth of the economy is finished." — Carlota Perez: The Thought Leader Interview.
  4. On Populism and Inequality: Carlota Perez: "The fears that are expounded today are not new; nor is the rise in populism or the return of fascist tendencies as the rising inequality and drop in employment brought about by the mid-surge bubble and crash are felt across society." — Second Machine Age or Fifth Technological Revolution? (Part 3). The current moment: beginning of a new machine age and/or the turning point of the fifth great surge?.
  5. On Why It Is Called Deployment: Carlota Perez: "I call it Deployment, because technology is finally deployed to its full benefit, with profits from customers, not speculation, providing the bulk of new investment capital." — Carlota Perez: The Thought Leader Interview.
  6. On the Threshold of Deployment: Carlota Perez: "To know exactly what to do and when to do it is a major challenge for governments at the threshold of each deployment period." — Second Machine Age or Fifth Technological Revolution? (Part 4). The historical patterns of bounty and spread.
  7. On an Installed and Waiting Revolution: Carlota Perez: "As stated before, the ICT revolution is already installed and waiting to be deployed." — The Post-Covid 19 crisis is a once in a lifetime opportunity.
  8. On Austerity After 2008: Carlota Perez: "The austerity measures, as implemented after the Great Recession of 2008, rather than overcoming the debt, dried out economies, hollowing out institutions and educational and health systems in many places." — The Post-Covid 19 crisis is a once in a lifetime opportunity.

The Role of Finance and Capital

  1. On the Casino Versus Real Production: Carlota Perez: "I have previously talked about the difference between investment in the ‘casino’ of the current financial markets and in ‘real’ production." — Second Machine Age or Fifth Technological Revolution? (Part 9). The socio-political shaping of a better future with an understanding of the nature of the new technologies.
  2. On a Casino Atmosphere: Carlota Perez: "Soon we had a casino atmosphere that encompassed all investment." — Carlota Perez: The Thought Leader Interview.
  3. On Finance Leaving the Casino: Carlota Perez: "The stability of those measures reduces risk and induces finance to finally come out of the casino and fund the real economy." — Second Machine Age or Fifth Technological Revolution? (Part 9). The socio-political shaping of a better future with an understanding of the nature of the new technologies.
  4. On Long-Term Investment: Carlota Perez: "The finance world still expects the easy profits of the bubble, but what is needed now is long-term investment." — Carlota Perez: The Thought Leader Interview.
  5. On Global Casino Mode: Carlota Perez: "Unfortunately, although it is obvious that finance is currently operating in a global casino mode, countries are unlikely to move towards global institutions." — Second Machine Age or Fifth Technological Revolution? (Part 9). The socio-political shaping of a better future with an understanding of the nature of the new technologies.

The Role of the State and Society

  1. On Market Fundamentalism: Carlota Perez: "I think that market fundamentalism today is as much of an obstacle to world economic growth in the next decades as state fundamentalism was in the 1970s and '80s." — Carlota Perez: The Thought Leader Interview.
  2. On Using Taxes to Promote Industries: Carlota Perez: "Taxes have long been used to promote certain industries over others; to promote the use of machines rather than labour; to reduce smoking and so on." — Second Machine Age or Fifth Technological Revolution? (Part 8). The limits of the Brynjolfsson and McAfee policy recipes: Proposals on fiscal stability and welfare.
  3. On Reinventing Government: Carlota Perez: "Government needs to be reinvented, using as much imagination as it took to design the welfare state in the first place." — Carlota Perez: The Thought Leader Interview.
  4. On Tilting the Playing Field: Carlota Perez: "The playing field must be tilted in a general direction that will get the best out of markets profiting from the installed technological potential." — Second Machine Age or Fifth Technological Revolution? (Part 2). The periodization of history into technological revolutions: why, what, how many and when?.
  5. On Demand Creation: Carlota Perez: "Demand creation, supported by intelligent, appropriate taxation and regulation, signals the most advantageous direction for innovation and investment." — Second Machine Age or Fifth Technological Revolution? (Part 9). The socio-political shaping of a better future with an understanding of the nature of the new technologies.
  6. On Being Mired in the Previous Paradigm: Carlota Perez: "The most damaging of them are the ones mired in the previous paradigm, rather than boldly responding to the new present and the open potential future." — Second Machine Age or Fifth Technological Revolution? (Part 1). Introduction: the pitfalls of historical periodization.
  7. On an Inadequate Institutional Framework: Carlota Perez: "Our current institutional framework, inherited from mass production times, is woefully inadequate to enable the installed ICT paradigm to flourish." — Second Machine Age or Fifth Technological Revolution? (Part 4). The historical patterns of bounty and spread.
  8. On Consensus-Building Institutions: Carlota Perez: "Above all, it is time to set up consensus building institutions that enable the unfolding of a new digital, green and sustainable potential." — The Post-Covid 19 crisis is a once in a lifetime opportunity.
  9. On Aspiration Rather Than Guilt: Carlota Perez: "Three things are clear: First, a green lifestyle will not spread by guilt or fear, it will only spread by desire and aspiration of the majorities." — Digital and green: a very convenient marriage.
  10. On Life-Long Education: Carlota Perez: "The level of provision of high quality, life-long education, with multiple routes and forms of certification, is likely to define the potential future of each country." — Second Machine Age or Fifth Technological Revolution? (Part 9). The socio-political shaping of a better future with an understanding of the nature of the new technologies.

The Path Forward: A Green Golden Age

  1. On Entering a Golden Age: Carlota Perez: "In an ideal world, we would smoothly enter a golden age of expansion and growth in the global economy — a time when the amazing, wealth-creating information technology paradigm lifts all boats and produces global welfare." — Carlota Perez: The Thought Leader Interview.
  2. On a Whole New Direction of Growth: Carlota Perez: "What is needed now, as I have argued elsewhere, are not just policies for growth, but for a whole new direction of growth." — Second Machine Age or Fifth Technological Revolution? (Part 9). The socio-political shaping of a better future with an understanding of the nature of the new technologies.
  3. On Making Green the Most Profitable: Carlota Perez: "By changing the relative cost and tax structure to favour sustainability, green investments and innovations can become the most profitable, and green products and services can become the most desirable among consumers." — Digital and green: a very convenient marriage.
  4. On Full Global Development: Carlota Perez: "Promoting full global development is another way of creating profitable opportunities for innovation and investment for the advanced countries." — Second Machine Age or Fifth Technological Revolution? (Part 7). The limits of the Brynjolfsson and McAfee policy recipes: Proposals on science, technology and infrastructures.
  5. On the Potential of ICT for Development: Carlota Perez: "Furthermore, the possibilities for full global development are within the potential of the ICT revolution, which is by now fully established and waiting to be deployed." — The Post-Covid 19 crisis is a once in a lifetime opportunity.
  6. On an Aspirational Way of Life: Carlota Perez: "Today we need an equally aspirational way of life, which is both smart and green and is similarly supported by government policy." — Why everybody –including business– should support the Green New Deal.
  7. On Lifestyles Serving Mass Production: Carlota Perez: "If we look at consumer demand in the US in particular, we can see that the dominant lifestyles are still primarily those that served mass production." — Second Machine Age or Fifth Technological Revolution? (Part 9). The socio-political shaping of a better future with an understanding of the nature of the new technologies.
  8. On Markets Not Choosing Sustainable Paths: Carlota Perez: "As this series has emphasized, the range of the viable with any technological revolution is very wide and markets do not necessarily choose the most sustainable paths, socially or environmentally." — Second Machine Age or Fifth Technological Revolution? (Part 6). The limits of the Brynjolfsson and McAfee policy recipes: Proposals on human capital.
  9. On Pandemics and Environmental Limits: Carlota Perez: "Pandemics are likely to return and the many catastrophic consequences of reaching the environmental limits will entail life threatening situations and enormous costs." — The Post-Covid 19 crisis is a once in a lifetime opportunity.
  10. On Knowing the Goal: Carlota Perez: "If we know what the goal is, policy imagination can find the solutions." — Digital and green: a very convenient marriage.

Learn more:

  1. Carlota Perez: The Thought Leader Interview - Strategy+business