- Hardcover: 272 pages
- Publisher: Faber and Faber; First Edition edition (7 April 2005)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0571220126
- ISBN-13: 978-0571220120
- Product Dimensions: 21.8 x 14 x 2.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 374,463 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Product Description
Product Description
From the best-selling author of The Death of Economics and Butterfly Economics, a ground-breaking look at a truth all too seldom acknowledged: most commercial and public policy ventures will not succeed. WorldCom, Enron, Yamaichi, Equitable Life, Andersen, Parmalat, Shell . . . Around the world, corporate scandal - and full-scale collapse - has caught the headlines in a spectacular way, and investors avidly search for scapegoats. We all express surprise at such catastrophes - yet extinction is an inherent fact of life, and failure comes calling at the door of companies both gigantic and small. Over 17,000 companies will go bust this year in the UK alone. But is this a bad thing? And if so why does the US, with its hugely dynamic economy, see more than 10 per cent of companies disappear each year? In his inimitable fashion, Paul Ormerod draws upon recent advances in biology to help us understand the surprising consequences of the Iron Law of Failure. And he shows what strategies corporations, businesses and governments will need to adopt to stand a chance of prospering in a world where only one thing is certain.
From the Inside Flap
WorldCom, Enron, Yamaichi, Equitable Life, Andersen, Parmalat, Shell . . . Around the world, corporate scandal - and full-scale collapse - has caught the headlines in a spectacular way, and investors avidly search for scapegoats. We all express surprise at such catastrophes - yet extinction is an inherent fact of life, and failure comes calling at the door of companies both gigantic and small.
Over 17,000 companies will go bust this year in the UK alone. But is this a bad thing? And if so why does the US, with its hugely dynamic economy, see more than 10 per cent of companies disappear each year?
In his inimitable fashion, Paul Ormerod draws upon recent advances in biology to help us understand the surprising consequences of the Iron Law of Failure. And he shows what strategies corporations, businesses and governments will need to adopt to stand a chance of prospering in a world where only one thing is certain.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
20 of 22 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I sympathize with the critique of traditional economics as too focused on equilibrium and other simplifying assumptions. The author uses examples from biology, dynamic complex systems theory and many other fields to make his point that economic and social interactions are too complex to be fully understood and predicted. But sometimes he is beating the obvious to death. It’s hardly surprising that most corporations eventually fail when viewed over long time periods.
I did learn a little more about the history of economics and its limitations. But I found the book unfocused and rambling. The main point about “Why Most Things Fail” is pretty obvious at a general level, the reasoning about that is long winded, but the examples are interesting.
18 of 20 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I greatly enjoyed the book, certainly it compared very well with Freakonomics, as Ormerod's book told you things you wouldn't have realised, and makes you think more about society. I liked the discussions on complexity of organisation and the natural conclusion that competition and decentralisation of decision making is the safest way for organisations, including societies, to survive.
Nice to read economists acknowledging the limits of the pure 'free-market' approach while stressing the benefits of market capitalism.
Recommended.
22 of 25 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I read Ormerod's 'Death of Economics' around 10 years ago now - and really enjoyed it. He clearly believes he has a mission to challenge orthodox classical equilibrium led linear economics, which has the unfortunate problem of being based on over simplified premises, leading to failure to explain many real world phenomena ( e.g. boom and bust ). That was a great book - arming the interested reader with demonstrations of problems in modern economic theory.
Unfortunately this book, 10 years later is a retread of the same ideas, with a chapter at the end about how governments should act to promote economic health ( competition is not the answer ). You'll probably enjoy it if you didn't read 'Death ...'. If you did - well sadly this contains no extra pearls.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
How evolution explains business failures
This excellent, short work by Paul Ormerod is a worthy successor to his remarkably successful Butterfly Economics. Read more
Published on 21 Nov 2006 by Rolf Dobelli
Excellent - accessible, but the informed will gain more
Another economics text which takes well from other disciplines.
By the time you get to the other end you will have a much better idea about how economics can help you... Read more
By the time you get to the other end you will have a much better idea about how economics can help you... Read more
Published on 6 Aug 2005 by G. Gavigan
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