Cogs and monsters : what economics is, and what it should be / Diane Coyle.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Coyle, Diane, author.

Language:

English

Physical Description:

vii, 257 pages.

Place of Publication:

Princeton ; Oxford : Princeton University Press, 2021.

Summary:

"How economics needs to change to keep pace with the twenty-first century and the digital economy Digital technology, big data, big tech, machine learning, and AI are revolutionizing both the tools of economics and the phenomena it seeks to measure, understand, and shape. In Cogs and Monsters, Diane Coyle explores the enormous problems-but also opportunities-facing economics today if it is to respond effectively to these dizzying changes and to help policymakers solve the world's crises, from pandemic recovery and inequality to slow growth and the climate emergency. Mainstream economics, Coyle says, still assumes people are "cogs"-self-interested, calculating, independent agents interacting in defined contexts. But the digital economy is much more characterized by "monsters"-untethered, snowballing, and socially influenced unknowns. What is worse, by treating people as cogs, economics is creating its own monsters, leaving itself without the tools to understand the new problems it faces. In response, Coyle asks whether economic individualism is still valid in the digital economy, whether we need to measure growth and progress in new ways, and whether economics can ever be objective, since it influences what it analyzes. Just as important, the discipline needs to correct its striking lack of diversity and inclusion if it is to be able to offer new solutions to new problems.Filled with original insights, Cogs and Monsters offers a roadmap for how economics can adapt to the rewiring of society, including by digital technologies, and realize its potential to play a hugely positive role in the twenty-first century"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Introduction: Economics Today and Tomorrow

The Public Responsibilities of the Economist

The Economist as Outsider

AIs, Rats and Humans

Cogs and Monsters

Changing Technology, Changing Economics.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record and CIP data provided by publisher; resource not viewed.

ISBN:

9780691231037

0691231036

OCLC:

1266228631