Why the future is not quite what it used to be
Business gurus, management consultants and journalists are eager to exaggerate the pace of technological change and ignore lessons of the past. Don’t believe everything they say – 747s and nylon shirts are still around today.
The real economy: May 2003
The last fifteen years has been one of the most remarkable periods in economic history. But the American model on which most economic thinking and policy making has been based is not only unattractive, it is inaccurate - both about human motivation and how socially embedded markets actually operate
Reflections on the New Economy
John recalls his thinking during the extraordinary years of the 'new economy'.
Two sides of capitalism
Judge Kollar-Kotelly has the unenviable task of deciding whether Microsoft's antitrust settlement is in the public interest. If only she could focus more on the pluralism of markets.
A true and fair view of productivity
Politicians, business people and financial commentators talk about economic growth as if they were discussing objective data, like population growth, or temperature. But national income accounting is every bit as much a subjective enterprise as the private sector accounting on which it ultimately depends.
On John Kay’s Bookshelf – Archive page
Books that John has reviewed in the past...
Insiders calls the tune
Treating the value of share options as a cost makes a dramatic difference to the reported profits of many technology companies. And it points to a broader issue. In the knowledge economy, the distinction between employee remuneration and shareholder return is fundamentally changed
Technology and wealth creation: where we are, where we’re going
The interrelationship of technology, economic advance, and social and political systems, has many ramifications. The last ten years, in economic terms, have constituted an American decade. But the way in which the American decade comes to an end is probably the most important issue for the world economy today.
Economic Agenda: Sunday Telegraph 10th September 2000
French fuel blockades, the new economy and the relative weakness of the euro.
Competing under the same old rules
The dynamics of the new economy are not so far removed from those of the traditional business world. Network externalities and compatibility standards do not have the significance people think.