The Origin Of Wealth

Evolution, Complexity, and the Radical Remaking of Economics

Eric Beinhocker

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'Unquestionably the most important business book of the year.' - Management Today

Economics is changing radically. This paradigm shift, the biggest in the field for over a century, will have profound implications for business, government and society for decades to come.

In this groundbreaking book, economic thinker and writer Eric Beinhocker surveys the cutting-edge ideas of the leading economists, physicists, biologists and cognitive scientists who are fundamentally reshaping economics, and brings their work alive for a broad audience.

These researchers argue that the economy is a 'complex adaptive system', more akin to the brain, the internet or an ecosystem than to the static picture of economic systems portrayed by traditional theory. They claim it is the evolutionary process of differentiation, selection and amplification, acting on designs for technologies, social institutions and businesses that drives growth in the economy over time. If Adam Smith provided the inspiration for economics in the twentieth century, it is Charles Darwin who is providing it in the twenty-first.

If we can understand how evolution creates wealth, then we can better answer the question 'How can we create more wealth for the benefit of individuals, businesses and society?' Beinhocker shows how 'Complexity Economics' turns conventional wisdom on its head in areas such as business strategy, the design of organisations, the workings of stock markets and public policy.

As sweeping in scope as its title, The Origin of Wealth is a landmark book that shatters orthodox economic theory, and will rewire our thinking about how we came to be here - and where we are going.

Published: 6 December 2018
ISBN: 9781448106226
Imprint: Cornerstone Digital
Format: EBook
Pages: 544

Categories:

Economics

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About the author

Eric Beinhocker

Eric D. Beinhocker spent 18 years at McKinsey & Company, where he was a partner, and was one of the leaders of its Global Strategy Practice. He has also worked as a venture capitalist, entrepreneur, and has held research appointments at the Harvard Business School, the MIT Center for Organizational Learning, and the Santa Fe Institute. He is currently the Executive Director of the Institute for New Economic Thinking's research programme at the University of Oxford.

Praise for The Origin Of Wealth

... A brilliant, thought-provoking and wide-ranging book ... anybody interested in understanding why we are where we are should read it. For me, it was more than the business book of 2006; it was the book of 2006
Martin Wolf, Financial Times

Beinhocker is nothing if not ambitious
Sir Howard Davies, director of The LSE, The Times Higher Educational Supplement

An absorbing survey...[a] tour de force
James Pressley, Bloomberg

Economic thinking has changed radically in the last fifteen years.Eric Beinhocker gives us a sparkling tour of the new ideas.
Professor W. Brian Arthur, Santa Fe Institute