No you can't. If I invent a self driving car, economic growth is inevitable. What is the difference between now and 1800 other than technology and growth (hint,

No you can't. If I invent a self driving car, economic growth is inevitable. What is the difference between now and 1800 other than technology and growth (hint, technology is growth). Of course, there is also growth that doesn't come from technology. Like building shopping malls, employing people, and letting the economy operate at full tilt, producing things that we can then either consume, save (a form of growth), or spend on investment (another possible form of growth). You might not think building a shopping malls advances society, but it's second order effects 100% do.