Why the great surges of developments are different: a coupling analysis of the socio-political paradigm and the techno-economic paradigm

Purpose The “problem-ridden present” is indubitably related to the prevalence of neoliberalism, but it is also when the fifth technological revolution took place. In this special time, what should be done to achieve the coupling of Socio-political Paradigmand Technoeconomic Paradigm through the adaptive transformation of socio-political paradigm to avoid the resurfacing of the “problem-ridden present”? Design/methodology/approach The obvious difference between the efficacy of the fifth technological revolution and the previous four indicates that the Techno-economic Paradigm of Neo-Schumpeterian school is not sufficient enough to explain the institutional obstacles. No matter institutional or technological, any single perspective would not be adequate to explain the fundamental cause of the “problem-ridden present”. Findings From a historical materialism standpoint, the structure and progress of the techno-economic paradigm are inevitably influenced by the socio-political paradigm, and only when the techno-economic paradigm and the socio-political paradigm are coupled, the potential of the wave of technological revolution can be “shared release.” Originality/value The coupling analysis of the Socio-political Paradigm and the Technoeconomic Paradigm is of great enlightening value to the understanding of the economic development in the Digital Economy era.