Knowledge and technological change in different schools of economic thought (a brief historical review)

Abstract

A thorough analysis of current capitalism requires a proper understanding of the dynamics of technological changes and its effects on the economy. Innovation is fundamental for less developed capitalist economies to reducing the gap between them and the core capitalist countries. In this paper, a brief review of the different analytical perspectives used by economic schools throughout history to analyse the topic of technology is made. The relevance of technological changes had different levels of importance at different historical moments. The ideas of the classical economists (Smith, Ricardo, etc..), the socialists and Marx, Schumpeter’s ideas, the neo-classical school, the Keynesian view and some ideas from Latin America, are considered in this paper.