Includes bibliographical references and index.

Economists have begun a revolutionary reorientation in how we look at the world, and this has major implications for politics, policy, and our everyday lives. Conventional economists leaned on the comfortable precision of mathematical abstraction and ignored the complexity of the world with all of its uncertainties, unknowns, and ongoing evolution. Left out were positive forces of creativity, innovation, and advancing technology that propel economies forward. They did not describe dynamic process that leads to new pharmaceuticals, cell phones, Web-based information services - forces that alter how we live our daily lives. Also left out were negative forces that can hold economies back: bad governance, counterproductive social practices, and patterns of taking wealth instead of creating it. Secure property rights, honest public servants, and willingness of individuals to experiment and adapt to novelty were all taken for granted. This book tells a big picture story about huge differences in the standard of living across time and across borders; it draws on research from the world's most important economists and eschews conventional wisdom for a new vision of the world and how it works.

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