Are Ideas Getting Harder to Find?

Article Summary: Are Ideas Getting Harder to Find?
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Article Summary: Are Ideas Getting Harder to Find?
The primary study question happens to be the article's title, "Are Ideas Getting Harder to Find?" by Bloom et al. (2020). Researchers apply Solow's (1957) growth accounting production function to determine whether there is a decline in generating new ideas. Economic growth is the product of research productivity and the number of researchers (Bloom et al., 2020). Indeed, it rises when more people are innovating. Researchers' numbers and productivity determine the long-run economic growth rate. If one of the determinants is declining, it leads to a decrease in economic growth. The article's research question is crucial since it gives a simple formula that can be used to measure economic growth. The authors use Moore's law as an example. The theory states that the quantity of computer chips transistors doubles after every two years. The doubling is equal to an exponential growth rate of about 35% annually. In that light, there must be an ever-increasing number of researchers required to fulfill Moore's theory. Today, the researchers needed to double Moore's law are 18 times more than what was required in the 1970s (Bloom et al., 2020). Although the number of researchers is increasing, there is a rapid decline in research productivity of approximately 7% annually.
Bloom et al. use qualitative and quantitative evidence and a consistent accounting approach. In particular, the data portrays that inventions are challenging to get despite the growing researchers' numbers. For example, the number of patents has been found to decrease over time. Pharmaceutical innovation is also declining, and all idea-driven models of economic growth suggest that ideas per research dollar are decreasing, and the trend might continue in the future (Bloom et al., 2020). Research productivity has been found to decline sharply within each product line. In other terms, there is a limited growth opportunity to improve productivity through invention in the long-run growth. By considering the economy of the United States of America (USA), the growth domestic product (GDP) exponential growth rate per person has relatively been stable or declining since 1870 (Bloom et al., 2020). Researchers have used data to address the research question correctly. They have applied proper economic models and formulas to prove that research productivity has declined, leading to decreased economic growth. Specifically, Bloom et al. ...