Synopses & Reviews
Why did VHS, an inferior video recording technology, succeed in the marketplace, driving the superior Betamax out of business? Why do big-budget, acclaimed movies sometimes flop at the box office, while low-budget, idiosyncratic films become huge hits? The answers to these questions, says Paul Omerod, remind us that economics is a science based on the workings of human society, as unpredictable an entity as there is. "Conventional economics is mistaken," claimes Omerod, "when it views the economy as a machine, whose behavior, no matter how complicated, is ultimately predictable and controllable."
In this cogently and elegantly argued analysis of why human beings persist in engaging in behavior that defies time-honored economic theory, Omerod also explains why governments and industries throughout the world must completely reconfigure their traditional methods of economic forecasting if they are to succeed and prosper in an increasingly global marketplace.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. 201-203) and index.
About the Author
Paul Omerod has been head of the Economic Assessment Unit at The Economist and a visiting professor at the Universities of London and Manchester. He lives in Londom.
Table of Contents
ch. 1.Living at the edge of chaos --ch. 2.Dedicated followers of fashion --ch. 3.To catch a thief --ch. 4.Family values --ch. 5.'Use the maths, then burn it' --ch. 6.Illusion of control --ch. 7.Quantitative quagmire --ch. 8.Ups and downs --ch. 9.Through a glass darkly --ch. 10.Wealth of nations --ch. 11.To have and have not --ch. 12.Great oaks from little acorns.