David Orrell

David Orrell. Writer and Mathematician

Quantum Economics: The New Science of Money

 

 

Quantum Economics

Quantum Economics

Quantum Economics China

 

Publishers: Icon Books (World English), Citic Press (China)

Publisher's synopsis

A decade after the financial crisis, there is a growing consensus that economics has failed and needs to go back to the drawing board. Quantum Economics argues that it has been trying to solve the wrong problem all along.

Economics sees itself as the science of scarcity. Instead, it should be the science of money (which plays a surprisingly small role in mainstream theory). And money is a substance that turns out to have a quantum nature of its own.

Just as physicists learn about matter by studying the exchange of particles at the subatomic level, so economics should begin by analysing the nature of money-based transactions. This book therefore starts with the meaning of the phrase 'how much' - or, to use the Latin word, quantum.

From quantum physics to the dualistic properties of money, via the emerging areas of quantum finance and quantum cognition, Quantum Economics reveals that quantum economics is to neoclassical economics what quantum physics is to classical physics - a genuine turning point in our understanding.

“The word quantum means 'how much.' Orrell proposes that money is literally a quantum phenomena that entangles us in relationships not dissimilar to the particle entanglements of the subatomic domain. Here credit and debit constitute a wave-particle-like duality enmeshing us all in a quantum-weave. Beautifully written, inherently ethical, and often hilarious, this book is a must-read for anyone wanting to understand the weird, and getting weirder, world of modern finance.” Margaret Wertheim, author of Pythagoras' Trousers and The Pearly Gates of Cyberspace

“As money becomes more digital and diffuse, it also becomes more quantum. In this timely and illuminating book, David Orrell brings us to the frontier of where economics, physics and psychology intersect. You'll never look at money the same again!.” Parag Khanna, author of Connectography: Mapping the Future of Global Civilization

“Reading David Orrell's Quantum Economics is equivalent to playing a game of 3-D chess against the concept of value itself. The book easily switches between physical, economic and metaphysical conception of value, revealing their hidden parallels and paradoxes. The result is at once an explanation of our current economic predicament, a diagnosis of how we got there and a credible guide to the sort of 'out of the box' thinking that is likely to get us out of it. After you've forgotten about the latest wheeze about the financial crisis, you'll be returning to this book.” Steve Fuller, Auguste Comte Chair in Social Epistemology, University of Warwick, and author of Post-Truth: Knowledge as a Power Game

“On the cusp of an earlier revolution, Karl Marx said all that is sold melts into air and all that his holy is profaned. Constructing a less mechanistic and even more revolutionary science of quantum economics, David Orrell proves it so. Orrell does not dabble in metaphor or metaphysics: he intellectually, persuasively and corrosively transmutates money into a quantum phenomenon. In the process, classical economics is profaned to good effect and a quantum future glimmers as a real possibility.” James Der Derian, Director of the Centre for International Security Studies, University of Sydney

“For readers who can suspend disbelief and trust common experience, David Orrell's Quantum Economics offers more food for thought than they may be able to digest. Economic and social life resembles the subatomic realm in many surprising ways. Rich with suggestive insights on every page and written in an accessible style, this book will both engage and infuriate its audience. For those of us who feel trapped in the professional cocoons of the like-minded, this book offers a chance to escape from the iron cages we have built.” Peter J. Katzenstein, Walter S. Carpenter, Jr. Professor of International Studies, Cornell University

“Orrell gives economic theory a much-needed shove into the world of science - understandable, fascinating, thought-provoking and ground-breaking.” Hilliard MacBeth, author of When the Bubble Bursts: Surviving the Canadian Real Estate Crash

“This is a landmark book.” Brian Clegg, popularscience.co.uk

“Constructs a theoretical framework for quantum economics that completely subverts the field [and] provides practical suggestions for the economic revolution.” China Association for Science and Technology

“This book is a beautiful thing, elegant in it's rigour yet intensely readable ... it's grounded, practical and may actually hold the keys to re-founding economics on a scientific basis. A tour de force.” Barry James, RemakingMoney

“Unfortunately, you always have to be very careful these days with books where quantum comes before it, because many people also use it to spread pseudo-scientific bullshit. This book isn't one of them ... it's seriously scientific ... Exciting.” Zwischen zwei Deckeln (translated from German)

Quantum Economics Resources

See here for related papers, background information, and a guide to the mathematics of quantum economics