Breakthrough

Appendix A

Dating Major Global Financial Crises

Both of the most recent major global financial crises—1930s and 2000s—followed close behind the peaks in the Kelly et al. innovation index. Perez cites the mass production process that permitted the building of the Ford Motor Company’s Model-T in 1908 as the signature innovation of the early 20th century, ultimately providing rapid growth of the 1920s and the mania that ensued (see Gordon 2016, 149–168). Later in the century, it was Intel’s microprocessor that made computing and communications at scale possible, and that gave rise to the current era.

While both of these technological innovations have gone on to demonstrate long-run success, in the excitement following their creation, the frenzy, ...