Exploring the Genesis of Economic Innovations: The Religious Gestalt-Switch andthe Duty to Invent as Preconditions for Economic Growth

摘要

This paper discusses changes in the level of knowledge - i.c. learning - as a keysource of economic growth, and argues that historically a radical change in attitude towards new knowledge has been a neccessary precondition for economic growth. The Renaissance created this radically new attitude in Europe, and this paper discusses contributions to economic theory and economic policy of some of the most influential scientists involved in this process: Francis Bacon (1561-1626) in Englans, and Leibniz (1646-1716) and Christian Wolff (1797-1754) in Germany. It is argued that these polyhistors viewed economic change as a dynamic