Is what we think of as economics guided by fundamentally wrong
principles? That’s the starting hypothesis for John Michael
Greer in The Wealth of Nature. He goes back to Adam Smith’s
original text, Wealth of Nations, to unearth popular assumptions
based on the free market love of the times. The Scottish
clergyman proposed that customs could be shed in favor of
unregulated commerce, free of governments. Feedback loops of
supply and demand would distribute necessary goods and
production. Yet from the history of economics, we see how tribal
chieftains maintained power by lavishing gifts upon the tribe,
particularly in the custom of sharing big game hunts. This was a
method of avoiding the bubble and bust cycle that results from
the concentration of wealth in too few hands. Ignoring economic
history in favor of brilliant calculations turns out to be
profitable business in the short term. Experiments showing how
innovations in finance produce ideas for which individuals and
businesses will pay good money, while ad