Book Review: On the Origin of Wealth
Posted by pcidss on April 11, 2008
I picked up this book with the hope of a deep analysis in what constitutes wealth and the many variations that may exist. The author responds to this question and many others throughout the entire book. The thesis that he provides is one based on the inadequacy and inaccuracy of traditional economic theory, and proposes a new theory that takes evolution, chaos theory, complex adaptive systems, and the work from other sciences. Overall I enjoyed the book, and thought his digressions into analyzing businesses and social capital were very good. So good in fact, that I plan to reread those sections independently of the entire text to truly consider their impact and value.
There are some points where the author champions a bit of political bantering, an unfortunate and obvious blemish on an otherwise well defined concept.
Bottom Line: I would absolutely recommend the book, but perhaps stop 10 pages shy of the end, and forgive the author in a few places where he becomes a little to partisan.
