Morals and markets : an evolutionary account of the modern world /

Friedman (Univ. of California Santa Cruz) has authored a book that deals with the interactions among a society's markets and social contract and the implications thereof for societal well-being. The central theme of his book is that the marriage between markets and morals is essential for the continued growth and prosperity of humankind. A disconnect between the two results in events such as wars, recessions, and crimes. To illustrate his points, the author relies heavily on the literature from behavioral economics and evolutionary game theory. He includes case studies on the Soviet Union, Russia, Japan, the Hudson Bay Company and eBay, crime and punishment, and environmentalism, to name a few. The book is written in a lucid fashion, as is evident from the fact that the author did not go into the technical details, which makes for effortless reading. See also Deirdre McCloskey's The Bourgeois Virtues (CH, Nov'06, 44-1643). Summing Up: Recommended. General readers and lower-division undergraduates. A. Sharma Elmira College