The Wealth of Humans: Work, Power, and Status in the Twenty-first Century

by Ryan Avent Narrated by Scott Merriman

Overview

An investigation of how the digital revolution is fundamentally changing our concept of work, and what it means for our future economy.

None of us has ever lived through an industrial revolution. Until now.

Digital technology is transforming every corner of the economy, fundamentally altering the way things are done, who does them, and what they earn for their efforts. In The Wealth of Humans, Economist editor Ryan Avent brings up-to-the-minute research and reporting to bear on the major economic question of our time: can the modern world manage technological changes every bit as disruptive as those that shook the socioeconomic landscape of the 19th century?

Travelling around the world, Avent investigates the meaning of work today: how technology is rendering time-tested business models outmoded and catapulting workers into a world indistinguishable from that of a generation ago. Our conceptions of the relationships between capital and labor and between rich and poor have been overturned.

Past revolutions required rewriting the social contract, as will this one. Avent looks to the history of the Industrial Revolution and the work of numerous experts for lessons in reordering society. The future needn't be bleak, but as The Wealth of Humans explains, we can't expect to restructure the world without rethinking what an economy should be.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Ryan Avent is a superb writer. I am confident that his book will be very successful.”—Thomas Piketty

“Ryan Avent is one of the sharpest and most intelligent writers around. Nobody is better placed to tell us how technology is shaping our economy and our lives.”—Tim Harford

“Many of the world's top economists read, engage with, and debate Ryan Avent on a regular basis, including on labor markets and technology.” —Tyler Cowen

“An ambitious, insightful and provocative book...Avent ranges widely through the often insular silos of economics, blending microeconomics with macro, industrial organization with international trade, labor economics with financial, economic history with economic geography. In the best Economist tradition, this book is both accessible and sophisticated, one that raises all the right questions.”—Washington Post

NOVEMBER 2016 - AudioFile

Narrator Scott Merriman would do well as moderator of a debate between political opponents: His tone is authoritative but eminently reasonable and restrained. That quality makes him an ideal narrator for this thoughtful audio. Ryan Avent, who grew up in North Carolina and now writes for THE ECONOMIST in London, has a sensibility that will be refreshing to listeners accustomed to American bipartisanship. A capitalist with a conscience, he argues unsentimentally that the digital revolution will inevitably lead to job destruction but also that we can, and must, find ways to reduce income inequality and share the fruits of our growing wealth. Merriman is comfortable with both the economics jargon and the warmer personal anecdotes that Avent shares as he builds his argument. D.B. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine

Product Details

BN ID:	2940171355470
Publisher:	Brilliance Audio
Publication date:	09/20/2016
Edition description:	Unabridged

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