Introduction: Chris Freeman's "History, Co-Evolution and Economic Growth": An affectionate reappraisal

We maintain that Chris Freeman's approach to the study of the interplay between technical change and economic growth is still a very fertile source of insights. Alas, in much of mainstream research Freeman's contribution is hardly considered. We show that this is a result of the basic assumptions of neoclassical growth theory (both "old"and "new") that prevent a pregnant treatment of technical and institutional change. We conclude that if we want to make real progress with understanding the longrun dynamics of capitalist systems, Freeman's "reasoned history"is an invaluable starting point.