ORIGIN OF WEALTH

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