Cogs and Monsters - by Diane Coyle

Book Synopsis

How economics needs to change to keep pace with the twenty-first century and the digital economy

Digital technology, big data, big tech, machine learning, and AI are revolutionizing both the tools of economics and the phenomena it seeks to measure, understand, and shape. In Cogs and Monsters, Diane Coyle explores the enormous problems--but also opportunities--facing economics today and examines what it must do to help policymakers solve the world's crises, from pandemic recovery and inequality to slow growth and the climate emergency.

Mainstream economics, Coyle says, still assumes people are "cogs"--self-interested, calculating, independent agents interacting in defined contexts. But the digital economy is much more characterized by "monsters"--untethered, snowballing, and socially influenced unknowns. What is worse, by treating people as cogs, economics is creating its own monsters, leaving itself without the tools to understand the new problems it faces. In response, Coyle asks whether economic individualism is still valid in the digital economy, whether we need to measure growth and progress in new ways, and whether economics can ever be objective, since it influences what it analyzes. Just as important, the discipline needs to correct its striking lack of diversity and inclusion if it is to be able to offer new solutions to new problems.

Filled with original insights, Cogs and Monsters offers a road map for how economics can adapt to the rewiring of society, including by digital technologies, and realize its potential to play a hugely positive role in the twenty-first century.

Review Quotes

"

An inspiring read for those developing, using or seeking to understand economics in a rapidly changing world.

"---Dr Anna Valero, London School of Economics Blog

"

Coyle's contribution is valuable. The book reads like a timely intervention delivered by a perceptive friend, in the kindest tone they can muster. Economists would do well to listen.

"---James Plunkett, Prospect

"[Coyle] is extremely wise, and the best friend economics could have--one willing to offer some serious tough love."---Tim Harford, timharford.com

"A CapX Book of the Year"

"Eloquent. . . . Thought-provoking."---Felix Martin, Financial Times ​​​​​​​

"Financial Times Best Economics Book of the Year 2021"

"Full of illuminating anecdotes about the gap between theory and practice."---Simon Torracinta, Boston Review

"Winner of the Gold Medal in Business Commentary, Axiom Business Book Awards"

About the Author

Diane Coyle is the Bennett Professor of Public Policy at the University of Cambridge. Her books include GDP: A Brief but Affectionate History, The Economics of Enough: How to Run the Economy as If the Future Matters, and The Soulful Science: What Economists Really Do and Why It Matters (all Princeton). She lives in London. Twitter @DianeCoyle1859