Despite its role as the centerpiece of modern growth theory, the Solow model is decidedly silent on some of its basic questions: Why is average growth in per capita income so much higher now than it was 200 years ago? Why is per capita income so much higher in the member countries of the OECD...

Growth theory can go a long way toward accounting for phenomena linked with U.S. economic development. Some examples are:(i) the secular decline in fertility between 1800 and 1980,(ii) the decline in agricultural employment and the rise in skill since 1800,(iii) the demise of child labor...