{"product_id":"nature-an-economic-history-9780691115276","title":"Nature: An Economic History","description":"\u003cp\u003eFrom humans to hermit crabs to deep water plankton  all living things compete for locally limiting resources. This universal truth unites three bodies of thought--economics  evolution  and history--that have developed largely in mutual isolation. Here  Geerat Vermeij undertakes a groundbreaking and provocative exploration of the facts and theories of biology  economics  and geology to show how processes common to all economic systems--competition  cooperation  adaptation  and feedback--govern evolution as surely as they do the human economy  and how historical patterns in both human and nonhuman evolution follow from this principle.  Using a wealth of examples of evolutionary innovations  Vermeij argues that evolution and economics are one. Powerful consumers and producers exercise disproportionate controls on the characteristics  activities  and distribution of all life forms. Competition-driven demand by consumers  when coupled with supply-side conditions permitting economic growth  leads to adaptation and escalation among organisms. Although disruptions in production halt or reverse these processes temporarily  they amplify escalation in the long run to produce trends in all economic systems toward greater power  higher production rates  and a wider reach for economic systems and their strongest members.  Despite our unprecedented power to shape our surroundings  we humans are subject to all the economic principles and historical trends that emerged at lifes origin more than 3 billion years ago. Engagingly written  brilliantly argued  and sweeping in scope  Nature: An Economic History shows that the human institutions most likely to preserve opportunity and adaptability are  after all  built like successful living things.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45651596181557,"sku":"ByrdShop_0691115273","price":246.77,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780691115276.jpg?v=1781836202","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/nature-an-economic-history-9780691115276","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}