What Was “the New Economy”?

This paper for the Business History Conference is the shaggiest thing I have written in years. Work and personal life developments — including happy things like getting a new puppy — meant I had to write this faster than I wanted. Still, my grumpiness with its form is more than counterbalanced by my joy and enthusiasm for working on a new project and wrestling with new ideas, which is something I haven’t really done since The Maintainers took off in 2015–2016. I am posting this piece in its current form because the topic is something I have been actively discussing with friends and colleagues for a long…