The Origin of Wealth: Evolution, Complexity, and the Radical Remaking of Economics

Eric D. Beinhocker

Harvard Business Press, 2006 - Business & Economics - 527 pages

Over 6.4 billion people participate in a $36.5 trillion global economy, designed and overseen by no one. How did this marvel of self-organized complexity evolve? How is wealth created within this system? And how can wealth be increased for the benefit of individuals, businesses, and society? In The Origin of Wealth, Eric D. Beinhocker argues that modern science provides a radical perspective on these age-old questions, with far-reaching implications. According to Beinhocker, wealth creation is the product of a simple but profoundly powerful evolutionary formula: differentiate, select, and amplify. In this view, the economy is a "complex adaptive system" in which physical technologies, social technologies, and business designs continuously interact to create novel products, new ideas, and increasing wealth. Taking readers on an entertaining journey through economic history, from the Stone Age to modern economy, Beinhocker explores how "complexity economics" provides provocative insights on issues ranging from creating adaptive organizations to the evolutionary workings of stock markets to new perspectives on government policies. A landmark book that shatters conventional economic theory, The Origin of Wealth will rewire our thinking about how we came to be here--and where we are going.

What people are saying

LibraryThing Review

User Review  - brett_in_nyc - LibraryThing

While I don't agree with the opening story that someone in NYC earning $30,000 is implicitly better off than someone living in the Amazon on $0, in principle, I agree with the book in total and ...

LibraryThing Review

User Review  - GloriaMundi - LibraryThing

The book lays out a paradigm for understanding economics (markets, individual choice, and the economy) based on a dynamic evolutionary paradigm that is part biology, part physics in its roots. Despite ...

Contents

• ONE The Question: 3
• TWO Traditional Economics: 21
• THREE A Critique: 45
• Complexity Economics: 77
• FIVE Dynamics: 99
• six Agents: 115
• SEVEN Networks: 141
• NINE Evolution: 187
• How Evolution Creates Wealth: 219
• ELEVEN Physical Technology: 241
• TWELVE Social Technology: 261
• THIRTEEN Economic Evolution: 279
• FOURTEEN A New Definition of Wealth: 299
• What It Means for Business and Society: 321
• SIXTEEN Organization: 349
• SEVENTEEN Finance: 381
• EIGHTEEN Politics and Policy: 415
• Notes: 455
• Bibliography: 491
• Index: 509
• About the Author: 527

Bibliographic information

• Title: The Origin of Wealth: Evolution, Complexity, and the Radical Remaking of Economics
• Author: Eric D. Beinhocker
• Edition: illustrated, reprint
• Publisher: Harvard Business Press, 2006
• ISBN: 157851777X, 9781578517770
• Length: 527 pages
• Subjects: Business & Economics / Development / Economic Development; Business & Economics / Economics / Theory