The five Technological Revolutions
In Technological Revolutions and Financial Capital, [1] Carlota Perez plots the evolution of societal, industrial, and economic capital based on Technological Revolutions that occurred over the last few hundred years. She opines that these disruptive trends happen every generation or so.
It started with the Industrial Revolution in the 1770s, followed by the Age of Steam and Railways in the early 19th Century, then the Age of Steel and Heavy Engineering in the late 19th Century bringing us to the Age of Oil and Mass Production in the 20th Century. We conclude with the current Age of Software and Digital into the 21st Century (see Figure 1.1):
Figure 1.1 – The five Technological Revolutions, adapted from Technological Revolutions and Financial Capital by Carlota Perez ( © Scaled Agile Inc.)
Each revolution has a regular sequence of three distinct phases:
- Installation Period: New technology and financial...
