It's called the "Origin of Wealth", and subtitled "The Radical Remaking of Economics and What it Means for Business and Society". But if Eric Beinhocker could have another shot at it, he might call his manifesto, "The Origin of Everything" and subtitled it, "Including the Kitchen Sink". He has a case, as few others have had, at claiming this honor. His broad effort combines complexity theory and advanced adaptive systems with the latest thinking on biological and evolutionary science to give Beinhocker a business book for use not only by the titan's of industry but for anyone else who participates in our economy. Meaning you don't have to be studying computational economics or be enrolled in business school to read, understand, and learn from this book. Very few people, Henry David Thoreau and Ted Kosinski , come to mind, are not active in the evolutionary gene pool that is the global marketplace for the creation of wealth, and thus will not gain wealth from this book. And wealth, according to Beinhocker is the creation of "Fit Order". You will have to read the book to understand what he means by "Fit Order" but his type of wealth is not about dollars. Don't read his book to become rich, read his book to keep from becoming poor.
Even if you do not buy-in to his theory, you will get a first-class treatment of economic systems, traditional economic theory, complexity, non-linear systems, game theory, advanced adaptive systems, networks, evolutionary theory with it's fundamental aspects of emergence and selection, along with the necessary aspects of business strategy development, finance, and ultimately politics. Toss in little thermodynamics and stir. Does Beinhocker have it right? Unlike biological evolution, it's impossible to prove scientifically that our economy evolves in a similar fashion, but he has made the necessary case. What he has clearly proven is that traditional economic theory is dead, the economy is far more dynamic and unpredictable to believe in assumptions about rational markets and equilibrium states. In order for markets to emerge, adapt, and evolve, in the biological sense, they have to be alive. We see similar emergent behavior that certainly suggests that markets are alive because commercial entities are born, live, and die within it's boundaries. Although he doesn't explicitly state it, if it's evolution that drives the markets, it has to be biologically based just as certainly as our DNA has created a life support system that has arms and legs and systems that bring air and food to our cells. It has therefore created other systems to ensure there is an abundance of everything else we need to survive. These systems are now detached from our physical bodies but are still driven by the same rules embedded in our DNA. The same rules that are now screaming at society to protect the air that we breath and all of the natural resources we need for survival. So the next time you are holding a glass to get a drink of water, you might ask, did that forces of nature that brought you an opposable thumb, also bring you indoor plumbing and hence the kitchen sink? Beinhocker would say yes. Add this book to your environmental reading list as well.
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