Transitioning to smart green growth: lessons from history

This chapter identifies and brings together two major trends in economic growth: the knowledge economy and green growth. It uses lessons from periods of rapid economic growth to understand how financial markets may deliver a new golden age and suggests what policy makers can learn from these historical patterns. It asserts that the combination of ICT with a globalised context requiring sustainable growth looks towards a future in which ‘smart green growth’ is probably the only direction that can bring the next golden age.