Future

Name: Future
Author: https://www.simonandschuster.biz/authors/Robert-M-Whaples/238970592
ISBN: 9781598132762

Economic Peril or Prosperity?

Edited by Robert M. Whaples, Christopher J. Coyne and Michael C. Munger

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About The Book

What will the economy look like in fifty years? How will our lives as consumers and workers be transformed by the coming innovations in technology, the marketplace, and the workplace? How will changes in demographics and dependency affect our political system? Will economic freedom rise or fall? What, if anything, would greater prosperity do for one’s total well-being?

Future: Economic Peril or Prosperity? poses these and related questions to a diverse group of economists whose predictions will inspire thoughtful consideration and debate. As co-editor Robert M. Whaples writes in the introductory chapter, “The predicted changes range from innocent innovations that will make life a bit more comfortable...to potentially chilling technologies that might strip our human dignity.”

Just as important as the book’s predictions are its insights into how we should think about an uncertain future. As humorist and social critic P. J. O’Rourke shows in his erudite chapter on self-fulfilling prophecies, wildly wrong predictions are not limited to the likes of a Nostradamous or a Karl Marx: even a Nobel laureate economist running a billion-dollar hedge fund can lose the farm (and other people’s money) through an overly confident misreading of the economic tea leaves. And yet, perhaps only by delving more deeply into long-term forecasting, and reflecting on past mistakes, can we minimize the hubris that so often clouds the judgments of prognosticators in academia, business, and—perhaps especially—government.

Informative, contentious, and at times inspirational, Future: Economic Peril or Prosperity? is an invaluable aid for anyone who understands the need to prepare for the future, even if that future cannot be fully anticipated.

Product Details

Publisher: Independent Institute (August 1, 2016)
Length: 160 pages
ISBN13: 9781598132762

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Raves and Reviews

“From P.J. O’Rourke to Deirdre McCloskey, lemonade stands to bitcoin blockchains, uber economics to omniphagic software, the power grid to the connected home, Future is a diverse and dynamic cornucopia of historians, futurists, humorists, prophets, and economists discoursing disruptively on the prospects for our 21st Century economy.”

– George Gilder, author of Life After Google, The Scandal of Money, and Wealth and Poverty; Founding Fellow, Discovery Institute

“Future is exactly what I would expect from the Independent Institute. You will not likely have any sure answers when you finish reading this marvelous book, but I all but guarantee you that you will be asking far better informed questions than at the start. And given the confusing landscape called the future, that’s the whole point, isn’t it?”

– Tom Peters, Founder and Chairman, Tom Peters Company; Co-Founder, Skunkworks Inc.; bestselling author of In Search of Excellence: Lessons from Americas Best Run Companies (with Robert Waterman, Jr.) and other books

“No one knows what the future will bring, but we do know what policies avert economic calamity and foster widespread prosperity. Future provides a roadmap for adopting the essential measures of liberty, entrepreneurship, and innovation. I highly recommend everyone read this pioneering book.”

– Rand Paul, M.D., U. S. Senator

“Future is an immensely readable and important book by an All-Star cast of thinkers about what the future may hold for all of us and what we should do now to avert calamity. Agree or disagree with their conclusions, they will make you think deeply about the important topics of freedom, prosperity, and economics.”

– Peter F. Schweizer, President, Government Accountability Institute; bestselling author, Clinton Cash, Extortion, Throw Them All Out, and other books

“I predict that the hints of pessimism and caution expressed by the generally optimistic contributors to the book Future’s probing examination will all pale in importance relative to the achievements of the ultimate resource: The human mind.”

– Vernon L. Smith, Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences, Chapman University