About the Book: In How Progress Ends, Carl Benedikt Frey questions the assumption that economic and technological advancement is inevitable. Drawing on 1,000 years of global history, he examines why once-thriving societies like Song China and Victorian Britain lost their innovative edge, and how modern powers risk similar stagnation. Frey argues that while decentralization encourages innovation, effective bureaucracy is vital to scale it. When institutions fail to adapt, progress halts. From the steam engine to artificial intelligence, Frey reveals that sustainable growth requires a delicate institutional balance—offering urgent insights for today’s leading economies.