Capitalism without Capital: The Rise of the Intangible Economy
Paperback – Illustrated, October 16, 2018
Description
"One of the Economist.com “Wise Words 2017 Books of the Year” in Economics and Business""One of Blackwell’s Best of Non-Fiction 2017""One of Financial Times (FT.com) Best Books of 2017: Economics""Selected for Askblog’s Books of the year 2017, chosen by Arnold Kling" "The portion of the world's economy that doesn't fit the old model just keeps getting larger. That has major implications for everything from tax law to economic policy to which cities thrive and which cities fall behind, but in general, the rules that govern the economy haven’t kept up. This is one of the biggest trends in the global economy that isn’t getting enough attention. If you want to understand why this matters, the brilliant new book Capitalism Without Capital by Jonathan Haskel and Stian Westlake is about a good an explanation as I’ve seen." ―Bill Gates “Compelling…. Haskel and Westlake have mapped the economics of a challenging new economy.” ―Martin Wolf, Financial Times “One of this year’s most important and stimulating economic reads…. Read this book.” ―Tyler Cowen, Marginal Revolution “For an introduction … it would be hard to do better than Capitalism without Capital , which is clear and lively and raises―without having all the answers―the relevant questions.” ―Diane Coyle, Enlightened Economist “The book makes its case in a lighthearted, conversational way that will appeal to economists and non-economists alike.” ― The Economist “One of the year’s most talked-about books.” ―John Harris, The Guardian "The nineteenth- and twentieth-century world where capitalists owned factories and workers supplied labor has ended. In this book, Haskel and Westlake explain with fascinating examples how business assets today are mostly intangible and how this changes everything we know about business--corporate strategy, accounting, leadership, and industrial strategy. Whether you are a customer, investor, manager, employee, or politician, you will gain new insights from this tour de force." --John Kay, author of Other People's Money "A must-read for anyone concerned about how to revive the growth of living standards." --Robert Peston, author of How Do We Fix This Mess?: The Economic Price of Having It All and the Route to Lasting Prosperity "On almost every page of this book I found myself going 'Oh, now I understand' or 'Yes, I never looked at it that way.' Capitalism without Capital is highly original and illuminating. It has changed the way I look at things." --Daniel Finkelstein, The Times columnist "This book shines a wonderful spotlight on the hidden capital that influences our world--measuring and understanding it is a top priority." --William R. Kerr, Harvard Business School "This fascinating book examines an important but overlooked subject--the intangible nature of capital and activity in the modern economy. The transformation of the intangible economy has rarely been pointed out, and its implications are not much understood or discussed. There are no other books similar to this one." --Diane Coyle, author of GDP: A Brief but Affectionate History "With an impressive breadth of topics, this thorough book takes a compelling look at the importance of intangible capital. Arguing that it offers an invaluable lens to view modern, dynamic innovative economies, the framework that Haskel and Westlake set forth is useful, insightful, and indispensable." --Carol Corrado, The Conference Board Jonathan Haskel is professor of economics at Imperial College Business School. Stian Westlake is advisor to the UK Minister of Science and Innovation. Haskel and Westlake were cowinners of the 2017 Indigo Prize. Read more
Features & Highlights
- Early in the twenty-first century, a quiet revolution occurred. For the first time, the major developed economies began to invest more in intangible assets, like design, branding, and software, than in tangible assets, like machinery, buildings, and computers. For all sorts of businesses, the ability to deploy assets that one can neither see nor touch is increasingly the main source of long-term success. But this is not just a familiar story of the so-called new economy.
- Capitalism without Capital
- shows that the growing importance of intangible assets has also played a role in some of the larger economic changes of the past decade, including the growth in economic inequality and the stagnation of productivity. Jonathan Haskel and Stian Westlake explore the unusual economic characteristics of intangible investment and discuss how an economy rich in intangibles is fundamentally different from one based on tangibles.
- Capitalism without Capital
- concludes by outlining how managers, investors, and policymakers can exploit the characteristics of an intangible age to grow their businesses, portfolios, and economies.
