在柯林顿任期内出任美国财长(1999.6-2001.1)卸任后任哈佛校长的萨摩斯(Lawrence Summers)于2013年在美国经济研究所夏季研究班(National Bureau of Economic Research Summer Institute)的演说里说的一段话最能说明这中间的演变:“Until a few years ago, I didn’t think this was a very complicated subject: the Luddites were wrong, and the believers in technology and technological progress were right. I’m not so completely certain now.”(直到数年前我都不认为这是一个非常复杂的题目:卢德主义者错了,相信技术与技术进步的人是对的。我现在对这样的想法不再肯定一定是对的了。)