>Amplifying on Maggie's comments, the cotton gin changed things overnight
>because it did not require any substantial changes in other parts of the
>production system. Electricity took decades to affect productivity
>substantially because the mills were fitted out to take power from a
>central source and to distribute it via elaborate systems of belts and
>pulleys. Electricity did not help much until after the factories were
>rebuilt.
Which is partly why we might expect electricity to have more substantial
implications for long waves than the cotton gin did. How does one
differentiate "societal technology clusters" whose impacts cross all
economic sectors from sector-specific ones?
>
>Michael Perelman
>Economics Department
>California State University
>Chico, CA 95929
>
>Tel. 916-898-5321
>E-Mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Marsh Feldman Phone: 401/874-5953
Community Planning, 204 Rodman Hall FAX: 401/874-5511
The University of Rhode Island Internet: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Kingston, RI 02881-0815
