The Rise and Fall of American Growth
The Rise and Fall of American Growth by Robert Gordonby Robert Gordon
Shares rank 4 of 5 economic history books by recommenders
Recommended for its economic data, which readers say informs discussion of investment and economics, and for plots comparing horsepower and kW per worker with output.
Recommended for its economic data, which readers say informs discussion of investment and economics, and for plots comparing horsepower and kW per worker with output.
2 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 2
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 2 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 2 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 2 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Economic data useful for investment discussions
“All the discussion of investment and economics can be better informed by perusing the economic data in Rise and Fall of American Growth”
Comment from 10 Feb 2026 in “The Singularity will occur on a Tuesday” Interesting plots of horsepower and output
“two of the most interesting plots in the book were of horsepower and kW per worker vs. output”
Comment from 2 Jun 2026 in “Daily pill can double survival time for deadliest cancer, trial shows”
Other economic history books people recommend
The four most recommended other economic history books, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Debtby David Graeber | 19 | 2 | 90% | 7 | — | Approved |
| The Great Transformationby Karl Polanyi | 3 | 0 | 100% | 3 | — | — |
| The Origin of Capitalismby Ellen Meiksins Wood | 3 | 0 | 100% | 3 | — | — |
| The Rise and Fall of American Growthby Robert GordonThis page | 2 | 0 | 100% | 2 | — | — |
| The Almighty Dollarby Brendan Greeley | 2 | 0 | 100% | 2 | — | — |
What people said
All 2 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“two of the most interesting plots in the book were of horsepower and kW per worker vs. output”
“All the discussion of investment and economics can be better informed by perusing the economic data in Rise and Fall of American Growth”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.