In search of self-interest
He is self interested, materialistic, and obsessed with calculating his worth. But who is the rational economic man?
Of ants and omelettes
David Beckham would find it hard to explain the physics behind his free-kicks. It can be equally difficult to analyse the reasons why some firms are more successful than others
Thinking in sevens
Categories and lists help us to make better sense of a complex world. But they must be chosen carefully.
Knowing the unknowable
Historians and insurers will both have to re-write their books following the terrorist attacks on America.
On John Kay’s Bookshelf – Archive page
Books that John has reviewed in the past...
Choice as control
We are told that corporations are becoming ever more powerful; a match even for national economies. Before getting too concerned it is worth considering the nature of this authority.
Peak performance
The idea of rational profit- and utility maximisation is prominent in economics, but was challenged by Herbert Simon, a winner of the Nobel Prize in economics who died in February. Instead Simon emphasised the idea of bounded rationality in economics. This article explains why that approach deserves to survive its author.
Relativism rules
Seemingly conflicting theories about economics and business may in fact just illustrate different aspects of an issue. It is often pointless to look for a single explanation of a successful business operation or economic behaviour in general. The post-modernist idea that scientific truths are not objective facts captures something very important about the nature of social science
Technology and wealth creation: where we are, where we’re going
The interrelationship of technology, economic advance, and social and political systems, has many ramifications. The last ten years, in economic terms, have constituted an American decade. But the way in which the American decade comes to an end is probably the most important issue for the world economy today.