Adapt

* The Undercover Economist takes on the world - the new book from global bestseller Tim Harford 'This is a brilliant and fascinating book - Harford's range of research is both impressive and inspiring, and his conclusions are provocative. The message about the need to accept failure has important implications, not just for policy making and but also for peoples' professional and personal lives. It should be required reading for anyone serving in government, working at a company, trying to build a career - or simply trying to navigate an increasingly complex world' Gillian Tett, author of Fool's Gold 'Harford's wide-ranging look at social adaptation is fresh, creative, and timely' Sheena Iyengar, author of The Art of Choosing 'Tim Harford has made a compelling and expertly informed case for why we need to embrace risk, failure, and experimentation in order to find great ideas that will change the world. I loved the book' Dan Ariely, author of Predictably Irrational and The Upside of Irrationality 'Tim Harford could well be Britain's Malcolm Gladwell. An entertaining mix of popular economics and psychology, this excellently written book contains fascinating stories of success and failure that will challenge your assumptions. Insightful and clever' Alex Bellos, author of Alex's Adventures in Numberland 'ADAPT is a highly readable, even entertaining, argument against top-down design. It debunks the Soviet-Harvard command-and-control style of planning and approach to economic policies and regulations, and vindicates trial-and-error (particularly the error part in it) as a means to economic and general progress. Very impressive!' Nassim N Taleb, author of The Black Swan and Fooled by Randomness 'In a world that craves certainty, Harford makes a compelling case for why we can't have it. A brilliant and oddly empowering book' Dave Gorman, author of Dave Gorman vs The World 'Tim Harford has done it again? he has produced another excellent book full of insight and surprise. Just when you were ready to write-off economists, ADAPT shows how broad and useful their thinking can be. I wish I had written this book' Evan Davis, author of Made in Britain