Morals and Markets: An Evolutionary Account of the Modern World

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Macmillan, Sep 15, 2008 - Business & Economics - 261 pages
"The book draws on recent academic research in evolutionary game theory and behavioral economics, and tells familiar stories like the rise of Google as well as forgotten tales like the Ponzi scheme that swallowed Albania. The characters range from amoebas and William Blake to Boris Yeltsin and Zorro. Engaging and insightful, Morals and Markets offers a fresh perspective on the modern world and new hope for the future."--BOOK JACKET.
 

Contents

Prologue
1
Why Is the Modern World So Rich?
43
Romantics Communists and Other
59
When Markets Need Morals
73
The Rise and Occasional Crash of
93
Why Do Some People Like
107
Markets for Crime and Markets for Punishment
125
Gangs Cults and Antiterrorists
143
Environmental Markets and Morals
157
Technical Details
183
Notes
199
Bibliography
231
Index
245
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About the author (2008)

Daniel Friedman is a well-known economist and theorist who has published widely in leading academic journals in economics, finance, psychology, and politics. His sits on the editorial board of the American Economic Review, the premier academic economics journal, as well as the boards of three other leaders in their fields: The Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Games and Economic Behavior, and Experimental Economics. He has received 11 National Science Foundation grants. His books include Experimental Methods: A Primer for Economists (1994) with S. Sunder; The Double Auction Market: Institutions, Theories and Evidence (1993), coedited with J. Rust, about the origin and efficiency of the rules of the New York Stock Exchange and Chicago exchanges; and Economics Lab: An Intensive Course in Experimental Economics, with Alessandra Cassar (2004). He is a professor of economics at his alma mater, the University of California, Santa Cruz. DANIEL FRIEDMAN is Professor of Economics at UC Santa Cruz, USA.