The Coming Prosperity
How Entrepreneurs Are Transforming the Global Economy
-
- $16.99
-
- $16.99
Publisher Description
Ours is the most dynamic era in human history. The benefits of four centuries of technological and organizational change are at last reaching a previously excluded global majority. This transformation will create large-scale opportunities in richer countries like the United States just as it has in poorer countries now in the ascent.
In The Coming Prosperity, Philip E. Auerswald argues that it is time to overcome the outdated narratives of fear that dominate public discourse and to grasp the powerful momentum of progress. Acknowledging the gravity of today's greatest global challenges--like climate change, water scarcity, and rapid urbanization--Auerswald emphasizes that the choices we make today will determine the extent and reach of the coming prosperity. To make the most of this epochal transition, he writes, the key is entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurs introduce new products and services, expand the range of global knowledge networks, and, most importantly, challenge established business interests, maintaining the vitality of mature capitalist economies and enhancing the viability of emerging ones. Auerswald frames narratives of inspiring entrepreneurs within the sweep of human history. The book's deft analysis of economic trends is enlivened by stories of entrepreneurs making an outsize difference in their communities and the world--people like Karim Khoja, who led the creation of the first mobile phone company in Afghanistan; Leila Janah, who is bringing digital-age opportunity to talented people trapped in refugee camps; and Victoria Hale, whose non-profit pharmaceutical company turned an orphan drug into a cure for black fever.
Engagingly written and bracingly realistic about the prospects of our historical moment, The Coming Prosperity disarms the current narratives of fear and brings to light the vast new opportunities in the expanding global economy.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
George Mason University public policy professor Auerswald brings with him a message of hope and prosperity about global economic growth, with a wealth of historical data, facts, and anecdotes to support it. Referencing John Maynard Keynes, Auerswald argues against "focusing excessively on transient phenomena, at the expense of understanding longer-term trends." To address the question of how prosperity can come about, Auerswald turns to the work of Joseph Schumpeter and contrasts the work of the two thinkers: "To Keynes... technological unemployment was an affliction to be avoided if at all possible. To Schumpeter, the same phenomenon the disruption of existing modes of business through linked process of technological and organizational innovation was the definitive dynamic of prosperity in a democratic society." Here, the author aims to find within our current condition the impetus for change, and he suggests that the answer depends upon realizing "the patterns that connect human beings." He argues that levels of well-being matter more than unemployment rates, growth rates, and trends in global trade flows. With compelling writing, Auerswald offers an enjoyable and thought-provoking read.
