Post-1970 Optimism Collapse

Using language corpora in English, French, and German, the piece says references to progress and the future rose from 1600 until about 1970, then fell. This suggests a broad mood shift that could precede or drive policy choices and investment appetites. — It treats cultural attitudes toward the future as measurable inputs to growth and innovation policy.

Sources

The Spirit We Lost, part 1

Jason Crawford 2025.09.10 78% relevant

By detailing the mass public celebration, presidential attendance, and ritual pageantry around the Brooklyn Bridge’s 1883 opening, the article concretizes a past era’s exuberant 'future‑oriented' spirit that later ebbed—aligning with the thesis that cultural optimism about progress peaked before the 1970s and then declined.

Progress Studies and Feminization

Aporia 2025.08.22 100% relevant

The article’s Ngram-style chart showing a downturn in progress-related terms after ~1970.