We live in an age of increasing complexity where accelerating technology and global
interconnection hold more promise - and more peril - than any other time in human history. The
fossil fuels that have powered global wealth creation now threaten to destroy the world they
helped build. Automation and digitization promise prosperity for some unemployment for others.
Financial crises fuel growing inequality polarization and the retreat of democracy. At heart
all these problems are rooted in the economy yet the guidance provided by economic models has
often failed. Many books have been written about Doyne Farmer and his work but Making Sense
of Chaos is the first in his own words. It presents a manifesto for how to do economics better.
A tale of science and ideas Farmer fuses his profound knowledge and expertise with stories
from his life to explain how we can bring a scientific revolution to bear on the economic
conundrums facing society. Using big data and ever more powerful computers we are now able
for the first time to apply complex systems science to economic activity building realistic
models of the global economy. The resulting simulations and the emergent behavior we observe
form the cornerstone of the science of complexity economics allowing us to test ideas and make
significantly better economic predictions - to better address the hard problems facing the
world.
