In this landmark work NEW YORKER columnist James Surowiecki explores a seemingly counter-intuitive idea that has profound implications. Decisions taken by a large group even if the individuals within the group arent smart are always better than decisions made by small numbers of experts. This seemingly simply notion has endless & major ramifications for how businesses operate how knowledge is advanced how economies are (or should be) organised & how nation-states fare. With great erudition Surowiecki ranges across the disciplines of psychology economics statistics & history to show just how this principle operates in the real world. Along the way Surowiecki asks a number of intriguing questions about a subject few of us actually understand
- economics. What are prices? How does money work? Why do we have corporations? Does advertising work? His answers rendered in a delightfully clear prose demystify daunting prospects. As Surowiecki writes: The hero of this book is in a curious sense an idea a hero whose story ends up shedding dramatic new light on the landscapes of business politics & society.