Cognitive Capitalism: Human Capital and the Wellbeing of Nations

List of Figures
List of Tables
Preface
1Large Wealth Differences across Time and Nations
1.1Measures of Production, Income and Wealth
1.2Some Country Examples
1.3Problems of Current GDP and GNI Approaches – and Possible Solutions
1.3.1Differences between Various Sources of the Same Indicator
1.3.2Hardly Believable Large or Small Values
1.3.3Differences between GDP and GNI: Rich Countries Transfer Income and Poor Receive
1.3.4Comparison with ECB and Credit Suisse Indicators of Wealth (Wealth in the Narrow Sense)
1.3.5Differences between Statistical Indicators and Observations: Cuba and the United States as Examples
1.3.6Validity Issues and What We Want to Know?
2The Wellbeing of Nations
2.1Health: Height and Life Expectancy
2.2The Human Development Approach
2.3Psychological, Environmental and Holistic Approaches
2.3.1Gross National Happiness (GNH)
2.3.2The Stiglitz–Sen–Fitoussi Approach
2.3.3Happy Planet Index (HPI)
2.4Including Political and Sociological Criteria
2.5Why Still Use GDP?
3Human Capital, Cognitive Ability and Intelligence
3.1Terms and Definitions
3.2Paradigms and Measurement Approaches
3.2.1Education as a Proxy for Ability
3.2.2Psychometric Intelligence Tests
3.2.3Piagetian Cognitive Development
3.2.4Educational Achievement
3.2.5Cognitive Behaviour in Everyday Life and Its Sediments
3.3Contentious Issues
3.3.1Fragmentation and Compartmentalisation in Science
3.3.2Political-Scientific Concerns and Epistemic-Ideological Confoundings
3.3.3Not All Relevant Aspects of Education Are Covered
3.4Cognitive Development and Its Determinants
3.4.1Description of Development across Lifespan
3.4.2Developmental Processes
3.4.3Genes
3.4.4Physical and Biological Aspects of Environment
3.4.5Psychological Aspects of Environment – Family
3.4.6Psychological Aspects of Environment – Neighbourhoods, Preschool and School
3.4.7Individual Behaviour
3.4.8How We Can Bring This All Together: Natascha Kampusch and the Productive Imagination of Malleability
3.5Furtherance of Cognitive Ability
3.6Can We Praise or Blame People for Cognitive Ability?
4International Ability Differences and Their Development
4.1Historical Differences (FLynn Effect)
4.2National Differences
4.3Methodical, Political and Cultural Objections
4.4Everyday Life Evidence and Sediments
4.4.1Indicators of Cognitive Ability for Historical and International Analyses
4.4.2Quantitative Data for Statistical Analyses
4.4.3A Closer Look into Regions: A First Exercise in Cognitive Hermeneutics of Everyday Life
5Why Some Are Richer, Freer and More Democratic
5.1Internal vs. External and Idealistic vs. Materialistic Paradigms
5.2Traditional Explanations
5.2.1Economic Freedom (Capitalism)
5.2.2Quality of Institutions
5.2.3Geography
5.2.4Dependency
5.3Interplay of Proximal and Distal Factors
6History, Culture and the Burgher-Civic World
6.1Worldview as the Core of Culture
6.1.1Misunderstandings, Development and Components
6.2Religion, Thinking and Society
6.2.1One Example: Anshu Jain and Jainism
6.3The Burgher-Civic World
6.4Reciprocal Causality Leading to Modernisation
7Why Cognitive Factors Are Important: A Theory of Cognitive Capitalism
7.1General Cognitive Ability Effects
7.2Higher Level Effects
7.2.1Society and Culture: Music as an Example
8The Impact of Cognitive-Intellectual Classes
8.1General Cognitive and Specific Intellectual Class Effects
8.2Pilots, Airlines and Accidents
8.2.1Chesley Sullenberger and US Airways Flight 1549
8.2.2Contrasting Examples: Costa Concordia and Ramstein
8.2.3Airline Safety in Statistical Cross-Country Comparisons
8.2.4Accidents, Ruling Classes and Airlines in Turkey
9Methodological Research Problems and Solutions
9.1An Epistemic Rationality Approach to Research
9.2Measurement Problems
9.3Causal Assumptions
9.4Relationship between Individuals and Higher Order Categories (Levels)
10Causes of National and Historical Differences in Cognitive Ability – and Reciprocal Effects
10.1Wealth
10.2Health
10.2.1Parasites, Nutrition and Hygiene
10.2.2AIDS as an Example: Effects and Causes
10.3Politics
10.3.1Peace
10.3.2Rule of Law, Political Liberty and Democracy
10.3.3Meritoric Orientation and Management
10.3.4Fragmentation of Power
10.3.5Demographics: Migration
10.4Modernity and Modernisation
10.4.1When Did Modernisation Begin? The Transition of the Thirteenth Century
10.5Education
10.5.1Reciprocity between Education and Ability
10.5.2Educational Quality
10.5.3Summary on Educational Quality and Methodological Considerations
10.6Geography and Climate
10.7Evolution and Genes
10.7.1Indirect and Tentative Evidence on Genetic Determinants
10.7.2Evolutionary Theories and Indicators
10.7.3Recent Evolution among Humans: Evolutionary Acceleration?
10.7.4Consanguineous Marriages and the Genetic Effects of Culture
10.7.5The ‘Race’ Issue (Biological Categorisation within Species)
10.7.6Summary on Evolutionary Explanations
10.8Culture and Worldviews
10.8.1Animism
10.8.2Judaism
10.8.3Christianity
10.8.4Islam
10.8.5Hinduism
10.8.6Buddhism
10.8.7Confucianism
10.8.8Impact on Cognitive Development and Burgher World
10.8.9Empirical-Quantitative Findings
10.9The Interplay of Determinants
11Global Models for Education, Cognitive Capital, Production, Wealth and Wellbeing
11.1Economy: Produced Income (GDP) and the Wealth of Nations
11.2Politics: Democracy, Liberty, Rule of Law and Gender Equality
11.3Explaining National Wellbeing Differences between Countries
11.4The Impact of Education and School Education on Cognitive Ability
11.5Summary on National Wellbeing Differences
12Challenges of Future Development and First Predictions
12.1Rising Complexity
12.2Demographic Changes
12.2.1Ageing
12.2.2Differential Fertility Effect: Lower Birth Rates among Higher Ability Adults
12.2.3Immigration
12.3Resource Reduction
12.4Climate Change
12.5Rising Inequality within Societies
12.6Predictions in Research
12.6.1Historico-Philosophical Ideas of Progress Versus Cyclic Theories of Rise and Fall
12.6.2Keynes’ Famous Prediction from 1930
12.6.3Current Predictions from other Researchers
12.6.4Problems of Predictions
13Models for Cognitive and Wealth Development in the Twenty-First Century
13.1A First and Simple Model: Prediction of Rising Education Leading to Favourable Ability and GDP Development
13.2Sophisticated Model for Ability Development
13.2.1General Assumptions
13.2.2Continuing Environmental Improvements
13.2.3Migration Effects
13.2.4Asymmetric Children Rates and Generation Lengths
13.2.5Identical or Different Cognitive Ceilings: Train or Sailboat Model
13.2.6Intelligence of the Future – Results
13.2.7FLynn Effects Based on Expected Environmental Improvements
13.2.8Combining Birth Rate, Migration and FLynn Effects
13.3Model for Wealth Development
13.3.1Past Growth and Wealth
13.3.2Cognitive Determinants
13.3.3Cognitive Determinants and Baseline Economic Growth
13.3.4Including Further Factors
13.4Wealth at the End of the Twenty-First Century
13.4.1Comparisons with other Models
14Summary, Comparisons and Suggestions
14.1Summary on Results of This Study
14.2Comparison with Alternative and Complementary Approaches and Their Insights
14.2.1The Relevance of Enlightenment, Elites and Innovation (Margaret Jacob and Joel Mokyr)
14.2.2Institutions: Economic Rights and Freedom (Douglass North, Daron Acemoglu)
14.2.3Economic Freedom (Mises, Hayek, Friedman, Rothbard, Hoppe)
14.2.4The Human Capital Approach within Economics (Eric Hanushek and Colleagues)
14.2.5Effects of Intelligence for the Economy (Garett Jones)
14.2.6The Climate Approach (Jared Diamond)
14.2.7The Genetic-Economic Approach (Gregory Clark)
14.2.8The Psychometric and Genetic-Psychological Approach at the International Level (Lynn & Vanhanen)
14.2.9The Economic History Approach (David Landes)
14.2.10Culture (Lawrence Harrison)
14.2.11The Burgher World as Bourgeois Dignity (Deirdre McCloskey)
14.2.12Interplay of Cognitive Psychogenesis and Sociogenesis (Georg Oesterdiekhoff)
14.2.13Integrative Model: Evolution and Culture as Background Determinants, Cognitive Ability and Institutions as Crucial Intervening Factors and The Burgher World as the Societal and Ideological Frame, All Combined in a Reciprocal Network
14.3What Can Be Done: Human Capital Policies and Burgher World
14.3.1Health
14.3.2Family Environment
14.3.3Formal Education
14.3.4Cognitive Training
14.3.5Welfare Policies
14.3.6Demographic Policies
14.3.7Immigration and Emigration
14.3.8Political and Institutional Reforms
14.3.9Culture
References
Index