The Rational Optimist: How Prosperity Evolves
| Quantity | Price | Discount |
|---|---|---|
| List Price | $29.99 |
$29.99
Book Information
| Publisher: | Harper |
|---|---|
| Publish Date: | 05/18/2010 |
| Pages: | 448 |
| ISBN-13: | 9780061452055 |
| ISBN-10: | 006145205X |
| Language: | English |
What We're Saying
The Economist is surely one of the best, if not the best, weekly publications running. Oddly, though, considering its title, it put only three books in the economics & business category of this year's "page turners"—while there are ten in politics & current affairs and eight in history. I guess that's not too odd, considering this is coming from a magazine that calls itself a newspaper, a newspaper that almost never carries a byline on its articles and essays. READ FULL DESCRIPTION
The longlist for The Financial Times and Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year was announced this morning. And just as interesting as the list itself, which includes a novel this year, is the fact that Lloyd Blankfein is recusing himself as a judge. He is doing so because "a number of books on this year’s longlist address various aspects of the financial crisis," a crisis Blankfein was intimately involved in as CEO of Goldman Sachs. READ FULL DESCRIPTION
Full Description
"A delightful and fascinating book filled with insight and wit, which will make you think twice and cheer up." -- Steven Pinker
In a bold and provocative interpretation of economic history, Matt Ridley, the New York Times-bestselling author of Genome and The Red Queen, makes the case for an economics of hope, arguing that the benefits of commerce, technology, innovation, and change--what Ridley calls cultural evolution--will inevitably increase human prosperity. Fans of the works of Jared Diamond (Guns, Germs, and Steel), Niall Ferguson (The Ascent of Money), and Thomas Friedman (The World Is Flat) will find much to ponder and enjoy in The Rational Optimist.
For two hundred years the pessimists have dominated public discourse, insisting that things will soon be getting much worse. But in fact, life is getting better--and at an accelerating rate. Food availability, income, and life span are up; disease, child mortality, and violence are down all across the globe. Africa is following Asia out of poverty; the Internet, the mobile phone, and container shipping are enriching people's lives as never before.
An astute, refreshing, and revelatory work that covers the entire sweep of human history--from the Stone Age to the Internet--The Rational Optimist will change your way of thinking about the world for the better.
