Global threats—including climate change, nuclear proliferation, and pandemics—have people worried about the future of humanity. Siegel instead argues that there is good reason to be optimistic.
At the core of the author’s thesis is the idea that the population explosion is “just about over” and that this is welcome news. “It will almost certainly end in this century,” he writes. As countries experience increased affluence and lower death rates, couples tend to have fewer children. Aided by new technologies, which enhance productivity and reduce the need to own so many things, “we are on the verge of the greatest democratization of wealth and well-being that the world has ever known,” and we will be richer “not just in money and goods, but in food, health, longevity, education, culture, safety, and just about everything else that people need and crave.” Moreover, writes Siegel, this democratized economic wealth will lead to a greener planet through protective policies and eco-technologies. The author backs up his sanguine outlook by citing dozens of economists and researchers, both historical and modern. This glut of data, often presented visually in charts and graphs, is both enlightening and cumbersome. The narrative is a remarkable resource but not a casual read. Still, Siegel does a good job of moving through dense analysis using prose that anyone can understand. He also recognizes that reaching global affluence, peace, and health has significant challenges, though his certainty that they can be overcome might seem overly optimistic in light of many grim current events. Democratizing education and technology and solving the problem of resource allocation for a population living longer are crucial. Siegel’s most salient argument is perhaps our most important goal, and it’s not simple: Everyone, in particular younger generations, must believe it can be done and that they possess the tools and minds to make a difference.
A welcome antidote to apocalyptic thinking. (b/w photos, illustrations, charts, graphs)Pub Date: Dec. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-119-52689-6
Page Count: 480
Publisher: Wiley
Review Posted Online: March 19, 2020
Categories: BUSINESS | ECONOMICS | GENERAL BUSINESS | NATURE | SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
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Everyone’s favorite avuncular socialist sends up a rousing call to remake the American way of doing business.
“In the twenty-first century we can end the vicious dog-eat-dog economy in which the vast majority struggle to survive,” writes Sanders, “while a handful of billionaires have more wealth than they could spend in a thousand lifetimes.” With that statement, the author updates an argument as old as Marx and Proudhon. In a nice play on words, he condemns “the uber-capitalist system under which we live,” showing how it benefits only the slimmest slice of the few while imposing undue burdens on everyone else. Along the way, Sanders notes that resentment over this inequality was powerful fuel for the disastrous Trump administration, since the Democratic Party thoughtlessly largely abandoned underprivileged voters in favor of “wealthy campaign contributors and the ‘beautiful people.’ ” The author looks squarely at Jeff Bezos, whose company “paid nothing in federal income taxes in 2017 and 2018.” Indeed, writes Sanders, “Bezos is the embodiment of the extreme corporate greed that shapes our times.” Aside from a few passages putting a face to avarice, Sanders lays forth a well-reasoned platform of programs to retool the American economy for greater equity, including investment in education and taking seriously a progressive (in all senses) corporate and personal taxation system to make the rich pay their fair share. In the end, he urges, “We must stop being afraid to call out capitalism and demand fundamental change to a corrupt and rigged system.” One wonders if this firebrand of a manifesto is the opening gambit in still another Sanders run for the presidency. If it is, well, the plutocrats might want to take cover for the duration.
Even if they're pie-in-the-sky exercises, Sanders’ pitched arguments bear consideration by nonbillionaires.Pub Date: Feb. 21, 2023
ISBN: 9780593238714
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 21, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2023
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SEEN & HEARD
A psychologist and Nobel Prize winner summarizes and synthesizes the recent decades of research on intuition and systematic thinking.
The author of several scholarly texts, Kahneman (Emeritus Psychology and Public Affairs/Princeton Univ.) now offers general readers not just the findings of psychological research but also a better understanding of how research questions arise and how scholars systematically frame and answer them. He begins with the distinction between System 1 and System 2 mental operations, the former referring to quick, automatic thought, the latter to more effortful, overt thinking. We rely heavily, writes, on System 1, resorting to the higher-energy System 2 only when we need or want to. Kahneman continually refers to System 2 as “lazy”: We don’t want to think rigorously about something. The author then explores the nuances of our two-system minds, showing how they perform in various situations. Psychological experiments have repeatedly revealed that our intuitions are generally wrong, that our assessments are based on biases and that our System 1 hates doubt and despises ambiguity. Kahneman largely avoids jargon; when he does use some (“heuristics,” for example), he argues that such terms really ought to join our everyday vocabulary. He reviews many fundamental concepts in psychology and statistics (regression to the mean, the narrative fallacy, the optimistic bias), showing how they relate to his overall concerns about how we think and why we make the decisions that we do. Some of the later chapters (dealing with risk-taking and statistics and probabilities) are denser than others (some readers may resent such demands on System 2!), but the passages that deal with the economic and political implications of the research are gripping.
Striking research showing the immense complexity of ordinary thought and revealing the identities of the gatekeepers in our minds.Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-374-27563-1
Page Count: 512
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Sept. 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2011
Categories: BUSINESS | LEADERSHIP, MANAGEMENT & COMMUNICATION | PSYCHOLOGY
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