Book Review Series: The Origin of Wealth by Eric D. Beinhocker
As my personal understanding of economics is uber-thin, I decided to self-start an education. I have had better luck with bookstores than universities, so I’m starting with someone’s supposedly nouveau interpretation of economics, with one of the stated goals being to express economic theory to the layperson. If you’re reading this blog and have suggestions for other/better/different education feel free to contribute suggestions, especially if you’re in the field.
To start with, why did I choose this book?
It all began on a wild Monday when I rushed to a business appointment only to find I was 1 hour early, and the only appealing thing to do was to browse a nearby Barnes & Noble. I previewed several books and made a few observations.
- Economics literature at this Barnes & Noble is being severely encroached by “real-estate manuals” on how to flip properties and become a millionaire.
- Of the 5 or so choices, most were facile in their treatment of the subject.
- One option was literally six titles from Adam Smith to Keynes crammed into one unfortunate book-binder’s weekend project.
- This book proposes to offer a history of economics as an answer to the posited question, and offer a syncretic solution to politics, with the chapter heading “The End of Left Versus Right.”
- The hour was nearly up, and I still wanted to know what was inside these pages.
My goal is to develop a more complex understanding of economics to lay a metaphysical foundation for an ethical impetus for my legacy. Having read most of the tangled web of wikipedia articles on the subject, beginning here, it seems that another direction is necessary.