Capitalism and Crises – How to Fix Them
By: Colin Mayer – University of Oxford
Capitalism and Crises is about how capitalism can fix them – how it can solve not cause them. The reason why it has caused them is that we have misconceived the nature of our capitalist system. We have failed to understand the key institution at the heart of it – business – and as a result we have allowed it to cause as well as solve problems. This book describes why this has happened and what needs to change to address it: it will take you through how the capitalist system operates, where it fails and why, and it will demonstrate that at the core of the problem is the key driver of capitalism and that is profit – the way in which we resource and reward those who run the system.
In this passionately argued and deeply intriguing book, Professor Colin Mayer argues that one key to addressing our current crises is to redefine ‘profit’ to include the costs that firms routinely impose on the natural world on those around them. Drawing on organizational theory, law, finance and politics, and ranging across a wide range of concrete examples, Mayer suggests that such a change would profoundly reorient our economic system to the benefit of the many rather than the few.
Rebecca Henderson, Harvard Business School
The Green Frontier – Assessing the Economic Implications of Climate Action
Edited by: Jean Pisani-Ferry, Adam S. Posen – Sciences Po, Paris, Peterson Institute for International Economics
Addressing climate change will entail major challenges for economic growth, employment, inflation, and public finances. Mitigating the impact of global warming will yield benefits and costs that are yet to be quantified and defined for the global economy and for nations, workers, households, and companies. The Green Frontier: Assessing the Economic Implications of Climate Action offers research originally presented at a major conference at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in June 2023 in Washington, DC, organized to shed light on this still unexplored field of study and recommend policies for the future.
The Curious Culture of Economic Theory
By: Ran Spiegler – Aviv University and University College London
When is a theoretical result taken seriously enough for economic application? How do theorists actively try to influence this judgment? What determines whether a new theoretical subfield adopts a “pure” or an “applied” style? How do theorists respond to economists’ penchant for “rational” explanations of human behavior? These are just some of the questions regarding the professional culture of contemporary economic theory that Ran Spiegler attempts to answer in this incisive essay collection, The Curious Culture of Economic Theory. In exploring these questions, Spiegler addresses the norms that economic theorists apply as they produce, evaluate, and disseminate research.
This is a beautifully written book, which critically evaluates the use of theory in addressing substantive economic issues. It is unique in identifying cultural biases that shape theoretical reasoning. It is a rare methodological contribution.
Elhanan Helpman, Harvard University
The Atomic Human – Understanding Ourselves in the Age of AI
By: Neil D. Lawrence – University of Cambridge
What does Artificial Intelligence mean for our identity? Our fascination with AI stems from the perceived uniqueness of human intelligence. We believe it’s what differentiates us. Fears of AI not only concern how it invades our digital lives, but also the implied threat of an intelligence that displaces us from our position at the centre of the world.
Neil D. Lawrence’s visionary book shows why these fears may be misplaced. Atomism, proposed by Democritus, suggested it was impossible to continue dividing matter down into ever smaller components: eventually we reach a point where a cut cannot be made (the Greek for uncuttable is ‘atom’). In the same way, by slicing away at the facets of human intelligence that can be replaced by machines, AI uncovers what is left: an indivisible core that is the essence of humanity.
Human intelligence has evolved across hundreds of thousands of years. Due to our physical and cognitive constraints over that time, it is social and highly embodied. By contrasting our capabilities with machine intelligence, The Atomic Human reveals the technical origins, capabilities and limitations of AI systems, and how they should be wielded.
This is an utterly absorbing account of humans, computers, and how much they differ. It explains why AI cannot substitute for human intelligence even as machine intelligence poses enormous challenges for how information is used and societies are organised.
Diane Coyle, University of Cambridge
