Ormerod says, for example, that much of the control that governments think they exercise over the economy and society is an illusion. Rather, these systems are inherently difficult to predict and manage. Nevertheless, as befits a former staffer on The Economist , he fills his book with stories reinforcing the notion that the economy is more like a living organism than a machine. He opens with ant foraging. A traditional economist, seeing an ant nest equidistant from two identical heaps of sugar, would expect the ants to divide their energies randomly between the heaps.
Biologists know better.
The first ant coming home with sweeties informs others. So if you're looking for a fascinating, entertaining introduction to the economics of the 21st century, here's an excellent starting place. In fewer than 200 pages, you'll learn more about the way real economies work than by reading a bookshelf full of academic tomes. And you'll have a lot of fun along the way.