The paper starts by reviewing a recent contribution on long-waves, in order to recall the essential points of a theory that, better than any other, is able to explain the long term development of capitalist economies. Considering that the present technological revolution in ICT is part of the...

The paper starts by reviewing some recent contributions on long waves, arguing that the present technological revolution in ICT is part of the broad phenomenon of a newlong wave. It follows that the main focus of economic policy should be to support the diffusion of the new technology and to...

The paper starts by reviewing some recent contributions on long waves, arguing that the present technological revolution in ICT is part of the broad phenomenon of a newlong wave. It follows that the main focus of economic policy should be to support the diffusion of the new technology and to...

Paper originally published in the BNL Quarterly Review, vol. 57 n. 231, December 2004, pp. 395-437.

The paper starts by reviewing a recent contribution on long-waves, in order to recall the essential points of a theory that, better than any other, is able to explain the long term development of capitalist economies. Considering that the present technological revolution in ICT is part of the...