COLIN READ is a columnist and the author of a number of books for the academic and popular press on economic issues. He is a Professor of Economics and Finance at the State University of New York, USA.  He has worked in Indonesia for the Harvard Institute for International Development, and at the Harvard-MIT Joint Center for Housing Studies. This is his fourth English language book. His previous titles include: Global Financial Meltdown – How We Can Avoid the Next Economic Crisis; The Fear Factor – What Happens When Fear Grips Wall Street and co-edited and co-authored The International Taxation Handbook.

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• Introduction PART I: FROM 10,000 B.C. TO 1776 – THE DISCOVERY OF ECONOMIES OF SCALE An Economic Prehistory to Economic Emperors Barter, Economic Emperors, and the Decentralized Marketplace Specialization and Surpluses The First Industrial Revolution Colonialism Puts Sugar in Our Tea PART II: A SECOND INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION A Declaration of Economic Independence An Economic Bill of Rights Dominance Through Economics Private Solutions to Public Problems PART III: THE NEW MERCANTILISTS The Consumer as King A New Colonialism Dependency Economics PART IV: ASPIRING NATIONS Transfer of Technology Economic Imitation is the Sincerest Form of Flattery Heckscher, Ohlin, and Two Billion Hungry and Willing to Work for Change PART V: GROWING PAINS Complex Economic Systems Herding Cats and Chaos Theory Too Big to Fail Private Property Gives Way to the Public Good The Winner's Curse PART VI: A NEW ECONOMIC ORDER The Politics of a Consumption Economy Gradual economic Marginalization A New Economic Order Convergence PART VII: FROM WHERE HAVE WE COME, AND WHERE WILL WE GO? The Dance of Demographics Steady State and Sustainability Economic Darwinism and Dinosaurs Prescriptions for Relevance Conclusions