As an example of this tendency, Romer cites the work of the University of Chicago economist Robert Lucas, who, in his 2009 paper “Ideas and Growth,” dismisses the role that books or blueprints can play in driving growth. “Some knowledge can be ‘embodied’ in books, blueprints, machines, and other kinds of physical capital, and we know how to introduce capital into a growth model,” Lucas argued, “but we also know that doing so does not by itself provide an engine of sustained growth.”
罗默的主要担忧似乎是一些经济学家有一种倾向，将对于特定理论的真理称为对于一切理论的真理，因此适合真实世界。作为这种倾向的一个例子，罗默援引了芝加哥大学经济学家罗伯特·卢卡斯（Robert Lucas）的工作。他在2009年的论文《思想和增长》（Ideas and Growth）中认为，书本或蓝图在促进增长中毫无用处。“一些知识可以‘包含在’书本、蓝图、机器和其他实物资本中，并且我们知道如何将资本引入增长模型，”卢卡斯说，“但我们也知道这样做本身并不能提供持续增长的引擎。”