The five stages of technological revolution

Disruption is the term that describes the battering that technological advances herald for many people. The side effects of tech gains today include the globalising of white-collar jobs, which makes educated, older workers as redundant as the blue-collar workers whose jobs vanished abroad not so long ago. Wages are suppressed as a consequence, consumption drops and economic growth slows while inequality rises. Angry voters can turn to populists as is happening in Europe and the US. Venezuelan academic Carlota Perez studied 4 major technological revolutions from the 18th to the 20th century. Perez found that each revolution formed a repeatable five-stage cycle of 1) irruption (a violent incursion), 2) frenzy, then 3) crisis, followed by a productive phase of 4) synergy and finally 5) maturity when the technology is ubiquitous. The big question today from this analysis is: Where are we in Perez’s cycle? Read the full story to find out. (VIEW LINK)