Why Most Things Fail: Evolution, Extinction, and Econmics

[niccolos_smile]

Why Most Things Fail: Evolution, Extinction, and Econmics By Paul Ormerod

I just finished reading this book last week. Quite an amazing book. An understandable explanation of why companies, economic and government policies fail.

In this book, Mr. Ormerod compares species extinction rates to corporation extinction rates, and the two are suprisingly similar. The underlying theme of the work is that economic theory does not conform to actuality. Theory assumes a rational world which seeks equilibrium with actors who can attain full knowlegde, but the real world is irrational, in disequilibrium, and relies upon assumptions about an uncertain world.

I highly recommend this book as one which seeks to attune economics to real world experiences.

[Kutjara]

1. Thanks for the tip!

I read his previous book "Butterfly Economics" and enjoyed it thoroughly. I'll definitely pick up his new one.

[CTyankee]

2. I have said this since I took an Econ class in grad school

Half of economic theories I don't understand and the half that I do understand I don't believe! I think economists make up stuff to fit their own pet views. It was a maddening course. I thought I would gain insight into how the world works. Instead, it was just one bs theory after another. Economists couldn't agree on the question of value: was it inherent in the product being produced, the worker who produced it, or simply the product's utility? What do you think?

[bhikkhu]

3. One of the more enlightened perspectives on economics I have seen:

http://thearchdruidreport.blogspot.com/2006/10/economics-hallucinated-wealth.html