The company of strangers : a natural history of economic life / Paul Seabright ; foreword by Daniel C. Dennett.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Who's in charge? -- Man and the risks of nature -- Our violent past -- How have we tamed our violent instincts? -- How did the social emotions evolve? -- Money and human relationships -- Honor among thieves : hoarding and stealing -- Honor among bankers? : what caused the financial crisis? -- Professionalism and fulfillment in work and war -- The city, from ancient Athens to modern Manhattan -- Water : commodity or social institution? -- Prices for everything? -- Families and firms -- Knowledge and symbolism -- Exclusion : unemployment, poverty, and illness -- States and empires -- Globalization and political action -- Conclusion : how fragile is the great experiment?

The Company of Strangers shows us the remarkable strangeness, and fragility, of our everyday lives. This completely revised and updated edition includes a new chapter analyzing how the rise and fall of social trust explain the unsustainable boom in the global economy over the past decade and the financial crisis that succeeded it. Drawing on insights from biology, anthropology, history, psychology, and literature, Paul Seabright explores how our evolved ability of abstract reasoning has allowed institutions like money, markets, cities, and the banking system to provide the foundations of socia.

Print version record.

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