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Veblen argued that economics should look to Darwin, not Newton, for its inspiration. Economic growth and development is an evolutionary process. Static analysis has its uses, but questions such as how real economies develop over time require an approach that focuses on the process of change. To this end, Veblen envisioned an “evolutionary” approach to economics. As he saw it,
an evolutionary economics must be the theory of a process of cultural growth as determined by the economic interest, a theory of a cumulative sequence of economic institutions stated in terms of the process itself [Veblen, 1919, 77].
Economics must seek to explain change, which is the most obvious feature of a modern economy.
The most pressing question in economics is how to transform impoverished nations into prosperous ones. As Nobel laureate Robert Lucas put it, once one begins to think about how to make poor countries rich, “it is hard to think about anything else” [1988, 5]. To find the solution, one must recognize that the necessary changes are not just quantitative but also qualitative. Economic development is not primarily about producing more widgets; it is about transforming the entire society in a myriad of different ways. The modern American economy is not just a larger replica of the American economy of one hundred years ago. It is dramatically different in most every aspect of economic life. Not only are the goods and services different, but so are the perspectives and habits of thought of the population. In addition, the economic changes and the cultural changes that have occurred are intimately related. They must be examined together as part of one integral process. Economics must develop an analytical