The Coming Prosperity

This iconoclastic, deeply informed book by economist Philip E. Auerswald contests conventional pessimistic thinking on some big issues – from recession to global warming – facing humanity in general and business and government in particular. He says the solutions lie in the millions of people who are rising up from economic exclusion to become entrepreneurs. Writing – sometimes with a dash of humor – from the unrepentant point of view of an economist, Auerswald uses a rigorous theoretical economic framework and compelling case histories to set his book apart from other arguments for confidence about the future. He combines scholarship about everyone from Adam Smith to Joseph Schumpeter with personal anecdotes about his development and the evolution of his thinking about the future. Occasionally, the personal jars a little with the grand theory. Auerswald is the first to note his book’s obvious flaw: the lack of a detailed plan to achieve the rosy outcomes he predicts. A more disciplined focus and fewer argumentative swerves might have paid dividends. He offers an approach to solving intractable problems, rather than the solution itself, but getAbstract finds his realistic reticence and his optimism worthy of respect.