1972 - Alexander King - Another Kind of Growth: Industrial Society and the Quality of Life

In this lecture, Alexander King discussed the relationship between science and technology on the one hand and social and economic development on the other. He noted the importance of scientific development for economic growth, however not all types of research induce economic growth. The latter requires innovation and entrepreneurial spirit, including effective management, good fiscal policies, the availability of capital and good marketing skills. He also addressed the social problems that arise with growth, including pollution and mass urbanisation, and the way in which governments have attempted to meet some of these new needs. He listed three main trends in future research: the continued need for research to advance economic conditions, the management and control of this technology in relation to social life and the use of research to provide solutions to social problems under direct government supervision, such as education and health. He discussed ‘the problematique’ of modern economic societies, or the many social and economic ills whose interrelationship makes them resistant to discrete solutions. Governments, whose structures hail from an earlier and simpler time, have bureaucratic inertia that stifles change and continuous conflicts between short and long-term interests with election cycles, have had difficulty in properly dealing with the problematique. He discussed several developments, including a controversial report to the Club of Rome entitled ‘The Limits to Growth,’ which he discussed in some detail.