Cuarto libro terminado este mes, en esta ocasión tocó el ensayo de James Surowiecki, columnista económico del New Yorker, titulado The Wisdom of Crowds.
The Wisdom of Crowds nos habla de como un colectivo de personas, si no se dan circunstancias adversas, puede ser mucho más inteligente que un experto en un tema. Dicho argumento lo va demostrando poco a poco a lo largo del libro, mostrando diversos ejemplos. Al mismo tiempo también nos cuenta casos donde no se produce la afirmación que nos introduce al comienzo del libro, y nos explica por que él cree que esto sucede.
Surowiecki usa dicha premisa para defender cosas como la democracia frente otros sistemas políticos, para explicarnos como funciona diversos aspectos de los mercados actuales, o para decir por qué no se debe confiar ciegamente en el CEO de una compañía por muy bien que el hiciese las cosas en el pasado. Me gustó la explicación de como se produce una burbuja económica, aunque también tengo que decir, que la segunda parte del libro, que se centra más en economía que en estudios sociológicos, me pareció un poco más aburrida que la primera.
De la contraportada
What the crowd is saying about The Wisdom of Crowds:
«The Wisdom of Crowds is dazzling. It is one of those books that will turn your world upside down. It’s an adventure story, a manifesto, and the most brilliant book on business, society, and everyday life that I’ve read in years.»
-Malcolm Gladwell, author of The Tipping Point
«Most crowds of reader would agree that Jim Surowiecki is one of the most interesting journalists working today. Now he has written a book that will exceed even their expectations. Anyone open to rethinking their most basic assumptions -people who enjoyed The Tipping Point, say- will love this book»
-Michael Lewis, author of Moneyball
«This book should be in every thinking businessperson’s library. Without exception. At a time when corporate leaders have shown they’re not always deserving of our trust, James Surowiecki has brilliantly revealed that we can trust each other. That we count. That our collective effort is far more important than the lofty predictions of those CEO -kings we have worshipped for too long»
-Po Bronson, author of What Should I Do with My Life?
«Jim Surowiecki has done the near imposible. He’s taken what in other hands would be a dense and difficult subject and given us a book that is engaging, surprising, and utterly persuasive. The Wisdom of Crowds will change the way you think about markets, economics, and a large swatch of everyday life»
-Joe Nocera, editorial director of Fortune magazine and author of A Piece of Action
«Ours is a country infatuated with experts, James Surowiecki, America’s most brilliant bussiness writer, thinks we should trust elites less and our own collective intelligence more. In The Wisdom of Crowds, Surowiecki does what he does best -takes on familiar topics, undermines our comfortable assumptions about them, and leaves us looking at things in a completely new way. There is intellectual stimulation to be found on every page of this book. The implications of its argument go far beyond the world of money and markets»
-Jacob Weisberg, editor of Slate magazine
Más libros leídos este año en: Propósitos para el 2007 (I) – 50 Libros.
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