The Origin of Wealth by Eric D. Beinhocker Summary
Overview of The Origin of Wealth
Beinhocker's revolutionary masterpiece dismantles traditional economics, proposing an evolutionary framework that captivated disillusioned economists worldwide. What if complexity science, not equilibrium models, holds the key to wealth creation? McKinsey's senior fellow offers the radical rethinking business leaders need to understand our path-dependent economy.
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Key takeaways
Why Everything You Know About Economics Is Wrong
Economics has a dirty secret: its foundational theories are built on a mistake made 150 years ago. When economists like Leon Walras and William Stanley Jevons were establishing the field in the 1870s, they borrowed heavily from physics to give their work scientific credibility. But they cherry-picked only the First Law of Thermodynamics-energy conservation-while completely ignoring the Second Law about entropy. This wasn't just an oversight; it was a catastrophic misclassification that has shaped economic thinking ever since. They treated economies as closed, equilibrium-seeking systems, like a pendulum that eventually comes to rest. Real economies? They're more like rainforests-open systems constantly exchanging energy and information, never reaching equilibrium, always evolving. This explains why economic predictions fail so spectacularly, why markets crash without warning, and why the "laws" of supply and demand rarely work as advertised in the real world. Think of your immune system. Millions of cells interact without a central command, spontaneously organizing to fight infections and heal wounds. Now imagine the economy works the same way. This is the radical insight of Complexity Economics: markets aren't mechanical systems but complex adaptive networks where order emerges from the bottom up. Consider the "Beer Distribution Game," a simulation where players manage a simple supply chain. Even with perfect information and strong incentives to optimize, players consistently generate boom-bust cycles purely through their interactions. No irrational behavior, no external shocks-just the structure of the system itself creating volatility.
How Markets Really Work: Networks and Emergence
The Myth of Rational Calculators and What We Really Are
Evolution's Design Algorithm: How Innovation Really Happens
What Wealth Really Means and Where It Comes From
Navigating Uncertainty in an Unpredictable World
Beyond Outdated Political Battles: A New Framework
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"BeFreed turned my commute into learning time. 20-min podcasts are perfect for finishing books I never had time for."
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"It is great for me to learn something from the book without reading it."
"The themed book list podcasts help me connect ideas across authors—like a guided audio journey."
"Makes me feel smarter every time before going to work"
From Columbia University alumni built in San Francisco
"Instead of endless scrolling, I just hit play on BeFreed. It saves me so much time."
"I never knew where to start with nonfiction—BeFreed’s book lists turned into podcasts gave me a clear path."
"Perfect balance between learning and entertainment. Finished ‘Thinking, Fast and Slow’ on my commute this week."
"Crazy how much I learned while walking the dog. BeFreed = small habits → big gains."
"Reading used to feel like a chore. Now it’s just part of my lifestyle."
"Feels effortless compared to reading. I’ve finished 6 books this month already."
"BeFreed turned my guilty doomscrolling into something that feels productive and inspiring."
"BeFreed turned my commute into learning time. 20-min podcasts are perfect for finishing books I never had time for."
"BeFreed replaced my podcast queue. Imagine Spotify for books — that’s it. 🙌"
"It is great for me to learn something from the book without reading it."
"The themed book list podcasts help me connect ideas across authors—like a guided audio journey."
"Makes me feel smarter every time before going to work"
"Instead of endless scrolling, I just hit play on BeFreed. It saves me so much time."
"I never knew where to start with nonfiction—BeFreed’s book lists turned into podcasts gave me a clear path."
"Perfect balance between learning and entertainment. Finished ‘Thinking, Fast and Slow’ on my commute this week."
"Crazy how much I learned while walking the dog. BeFreed = small habits → big gains."
"Reading used to feel like a chore. Now it’s just part of my lifestyle."
"Feels effortless compared to reading. I’ve finished 6 books this month already."
"BeFreed turned my guilty doomscrolling into something that feels productive and inspiring."
"BeFreed turned my commute into learning time. 20-min podcasts are perfect for finishing books I never had time for."
"BeFreed replaced my podcast queue. Imagine Spotify for books — that’s it. 🙌"
"It is great for me to learn something from the book without reading it."
"The themed book list podcasts help me connect ideas across authors—like a guided audio journey."
"Makes me feel smarter every time before going to work"
"Instead of endless scrolling, I just hit play on BeFreed. It saves me so much time."
"I never knew where to start with nonfiction—BeFreed’s book lists turned into podcasts gave me a clear path."
"Perfect balance between learning and entertainment. Finished ‘Thinking, Fast and Slow’ on my commute this week."
"Crazy how much I learned while walking the dog. BeFreed = small habits → big gains."
"Reading used to feel like a chore. Now it’s just part of my lifestyle."
"Feels effortless compared to reading. I’ve finished 6 books this month already."
"BeFreed turned my guilty doomscrolling into something that feels productive and inspiring."
"BeFreed turned my commute into learning time. 20-min podcasts are perfect for finishing books I never had time for."
"BeFreed replaced my podcast queue. Imagine Spotify for books — that’s it. 🙌"
"It is great for me to learn something from the book without reading it."
"The themed book list podcasts help me connect ideas across authors—like a guided audio journey."
"Makes me feel smarter every time before going to work"
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