Misunderstanding the British Industrial Revolution Is Reinforcing Technology Pessimism About AI

Detractors of capitalism argue that it took over fifty years for the British Industrial Revolution’s benefits to reach average workers. That narrative…

Dec 18, 2025 • Robert D. Atkinson

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Hey EU, Did Ya See the Memo?

Europe, your vision of a green, integrated, and non-disruptive world is lovely. But it’s time to wake up and build the industrial and military…

Dec 11, 2025 • Robert D. Atkinson

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Innovation Doesn’t Equal Productivity, and Patents Don’t Always Represent Innovation

Economists’ reliance on R&D and patent metrics distorts our understanding of productivity growth. Time to correct the conclusion: Here’s why these…

Dec 4, 2025 • Robert D. Atkinson

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November 2025

Worker-Oriented Republicanism Is Not an America First Agenda

A pro-worker agenda isn’t the same as a “national greatness” agenda. Workers are an interest group like any other: sometimes aligned with what’s best…

Nov 20, 2025 • Robert D. Atkinson

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Unions and Their Drag on Productivity and Competitiveness

Unions are interest groups, and America’s challenges require every group to put the national interest ahead of narrow self-interest. Yes, including…

Nov 14, 2025 • Robert D. Atkinson

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The CCP’s Useful Idiots

We see plenty of “useful idiots” today. They no longer carry the Bolsheviks’ water, but rather parrot the CCP line as they disparage the West and praise…

Nov 7, 2025 • Robert D. Atkinson

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October 2025

Tracking and Copying Global Best-in-Class Productivity Practices

Governments must treat productivity growth as a deliberate pursuit, not a happy accident. A global effort to identify, study, and replicate…

Oct 31, 2025 • Robert D. Atkinson

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I Haven’t Worked in Industry, But I’m Right About America’s Robot Problem

With capital-lite corporate strategies shaped by Wall Street’s demand for high returns on assets and invested capital, U.S. firms invest relatively…

Oct 24, 2025 • Robert D. Atkinson

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What Happened to the American Business Creed? Part II: Societal Attacks

Americans have forgotten that prosperity depends on valuing productivity, grounding ideals in realism, striving for progress, and maintaining the…

Oct 17, 2025 • Robert D. Atkinson

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Bernie Sanders’ Worker Dystopia: Never Lose Your Job But Never Get a Raise

If Senator Sanders wants to raise wages, he should focus on the real cause of slow growth, lagging productivity from low capital investment, instead of…

Oct 10, 2025 • Robert D. Atkinson

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What Happened to the American Business Creed? Part I: Business Attacks

Although the seven values of the American Business Creed were widely accepted in the 1950s, two have eroded over time, driven largely by changes in…

Oct 3, 2025 • Robert D. Atkinson

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September 2025

The Paramount Question: Do Countries Actually Want Growth?

Unless we can restore the growth imperative in the West, we can—no surprise—expect slower, or in the case of some countries like Canada and the UK…

Sep 26, 2025 • Robert D. Atkinson

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