Why Most Things Fail

Paul's third book Why Most Things Fail was published by Faber and Faber in 2005. It was named a US Business Book of the Year for 2006 by Business Week magazine. What the critics say:

 

"People don't 'maximise their interests' because they are people, and because they have no idea what their interests are or what they might be in the future... Though he does not put it in anything like those terms, that is Paul Ormerod's message in this punchy and entertaining book.  The real importance of what Ormerod is saying goes far beyond economics... he has found that we cannot know the future, not just because we do not know enough in the present, but because there is an absolute limitation on our capacity to know... It is, as I said, exhilarating " - New Statesman

 

"This is a fascinating analysis, and Ormerod tells a complex tale with much lucidity, and little maths. Few economists have such a sure grasp of physics and biology... It deserves a wide readership" - Howard Davies, Director of the London School of Economics, The Times

 

"Ormerod is an original thinker... his approach to economics, drawing on the work of Schumpeter, Friedrich Hayek and modern economists such as Vernon Smith, the American Nobel prize-winner, is evolutionary" - David Smith, Economics Editor, Sunday Times

 

"There is a powerful message here... Sometimes, on the law of averages, policies will succeed. But, in general, creating and administering public policy is simply too complicated to be successful, given the lack of knowledge about how people behave" - The Independent

 

Read about Paul's other two books Butterfly Economics and Death of Economics or for more information on Paul's work please visit www.paulormerod.com.