How Prosperity Evolves
May 7th 2010 00:56
:
MATT RIDLEY
Link: www.harpercollins.com.au
THE RATIONAL OPTIMIST
How Prosperity Evolves
by MATT RIDLEY
The availability of almost everything a person could want or need has been going erratically upwards for 10,000 years and has rapidly accelerated over the last 200 years: calories, vitamins, clean water, machines, privacy, the means to travel faster than we can run, and the ability to communicate over longer distances than we can shout.
Yet, bizarrely, however much things improve from the way they were before, people still cling to the belief that the future will be nothing but disastrous.
In this original, optimistic book, Matt Ridley puts forward his surprisingly simple answer to how humans progress, arguing that we progress when we trade and we only really trade productively when we trust each other.
MATT RIDLEY is the author of provocative books on evolution, genetics and society. His books have sold over 800,000 copies, been translated into twenty-seven languages and have won several awards.
He lives in London.
The Rational Optimist by Matt Ridley
Publication date: 1 June 2010
Imprint: 4th Estate non-fiction;
Trade paperbackrrp: $35.00;
ISBN: 9780007378906
How Prosperity Evolves
by MATT RIDLEY
I know of no other book which has argued with such brilliance and historical breadth against the automatic pessimism that prevails in intellectual life. Where history, philosophy, economics and biology meet, Matt Ridley has made his own rich territory and he is its own enthralling guide. The terrain may be unfamiliar, even uncomfortable at times, but he is always scintillating company. How wealth - mental as well as material - evolves and spreads is a fundamental question for our times and The Rational Optimist teems with challenging and original ideas.
IAN McEWAN
Yet, bizarrely, however much things improve from the way they were before, people still cling to the belief that the future will be nothing but disastrous.
In this original, optimistic book, Matt Ridley puts forward his surprisingly simple answer to how humans progress, arguing that we progress when we trade and we only really trade productively when we trust each other.
MATT RIDLEY is the author of provocative books on evolution, genetics and society. His books have sold over 800,000 copies, been translated into twenty-seven languages and have won several awards.
He lives in London.
The Rational Optimist by Matt Ridley
Publication date: 1 June 2010
Imprint: 4th Estate non-fiction;
Trade paperbackrrp: $35.00;
ISBN: 9780007378906
| 78 |
| Vote |
Add To: 
subscribe to this blog
