The Wealth of Humans

Work, Power, and Status in the Twenty-first Century

By: Ryan Avent

Narrated by: Scott Merriman

An investigation of how the digital revolution is fundamentally changing our concept of work, and what it means for our future economy.

None of us has ever lived through an industrial revolution. Until now.

Digital technology is transforming every corner of the economy, fundamentally altering the way things are done, who does them, and what they earn for their efforts. In The Wealth of Humans, Economist editor Ryan Avent brings up-to-the-minute research and reporting to bear on the major economic question of our time: can the modern world manage technological changes every bit as disruptive as those that shook the socioeconomic landscape of the 19th century?

Travelling around the world, Avent investigates the meaning of work today: how technology is rendering time-tested business models outmoded and catapulting workers into a world indistinguishable from that of a generation ago. Our conceptions of the relationships between capital and labor and between rich and poor have been overturned.

Past revolutions required rewriting the social contract, as will this one. Avent looks to the history of the Industrial Revolution and the work of numerous experts for lessons in reordering society. The future needn't be bleak, but as The Wealth of Humans explains, we can't expect to restructure the world without rethinking what an economy should be.

©2016 Ryan Avent. (P)2016 Brilliance Audio, Inc. all rights reserved.

fantastic book... compelling narrative

the author presents a very compelling case for the most important causes of economic stagnation for the middle class and what the roots of the problem are which point to where Solutions might be found all those some reviews have criticized the book for not offering sufficiently Clear Solutions I think the book does an enormous service by clearly arguing for what most important factors are that are contributing to the economic challenges faced by ordinary people around the world.
I have personally recommended this to all kinds of people I know and feel that this book should almost be a required reading for high school or college students

Amazing insight into the future

Great book and equally great narration! I learnt many nuances of economics along with a peep into the future

A very smart book

What a delightfully smart book. I found myself continually re-reading pages so I could properly ingest the concepts and observations.

The very essence of society’s contract with labor is being redefined as the waning of growth, globalization and artificial intelligence changes who wins and loses in our economic future. What becomes obvious is that the world has a daunting task ahead of it. Ahead lies granular changes every bit as ground shaking as the renaissance and the industrial revolution.

This is a dense read, filled with so many great explanations of the always baffling behavior of markets and their effect on real people.

So many books like this are simply a rehash of standard economic thinking. Not this one. I was impressed at how Avent wove together so many different disciplines into insightful observations about our future. Politics, economics, psychology, history and business behavior were brought together in a common-sense way.

These are heady times and Avent does a great job gleaning insightful landmarks disguised as political rhetoric and everyday economics. He does a great job helping us understand the political meanness and dissension we see today. Then, he winds the clock forward to show us the most likely ways world economic forces might play out.

Some interesting ideas

I don't agree with everything in the book, but it presents some new ideas that are very interesting. Machines, automation, wealth, work, the case for universal basic income, etc.

a good read overall

A bit redundant at times but presents a pretty good case. Not too overly technical. Avent does a good job of presenting both the optimistic and pessimistic view of most subjects that he addresses and does not just give his own view.