Company of strangers Book

This book is a profound and impressive view of economics. Its broad sweep of history - from pre-agricultural man to the present - and examination of the fundamentals of human interaction leave you with a feeling of "wow, this is deep". And it is meant to: Seabright argues convincingly and enjoyably that we aren't awed enough by the economies that humans have developed. These economies require massive amounts of trust, and as a species we are just not evolved to trust people to whom we aren't related. So we've developed some social norms and some institutions to help trust along and BOOM, we've developed this massive, sophisticated, and technological economy in only the most recent fraction of our species' existence. This economy, then, is as fragile as the trust we carry in strangers, as supported by these norms and institutions. I don't think I've read a book since "Guns Germs & Steel" that took on such a broad cut of explaining society.

The particularly impressive part is the range of disciplines he brings to bear on his subject: not just economics but also psychology, history, literature, anthropology, social sciences, etc. This breadth makes the book interesting and enjoyable. While his writing style is generally engaging, it can take on an academic feel. Fortunately he has organized it academically, with chapter and section introductions and summaries - my advice is if you feel your mind wandering, feel free to skip to the next summary. WIth the weight of feeling you need to read every word lifted, you'll be surprised how often you stay to read everything anyway.