Contents

Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Contents v
3. Figures vii
4. Preface to the 2020 Paperback Edition ix
5. Preface: What Is Narrative Economics? xv
6. Acknowledgments xxvii
7. Part I. The Beginnings of Narrative Economics
8. 1. The Bitcoin Narratives 3
9. 2. An Adventure in Consilience 12
10. 3. Contagion, Constellations, and Confluence 18
11. 4. Why Do Some Narratives Go Viral? 31
12. 5. The Laffer Curve and Rubik’s Cube Go Viral 41
13. 6. Diverse Evidence on the Virality of Economic Narratives 53
14. Part II. The Foundations of Narrative Economics
15. 7. Causality and Constellations 71
16. 8. Seven Propositions of Narrative Economics 87
17. Part III. Perennial Economic Narratives
18. 9. Recurrence and Mutation 107
19. 10. Panic versus Confidence 114
20. 11. Frugality versus Conspicuous Consumption 136
21. 12. The Gold Standard versus Bimetallism 156
22. 13. Labor- Saving Machines Replace Many Jobs 174
23. 14. Automation and Artificial Intelligence Replace Almost All Jobs 196
24. 15. Real Estate Booms and Busts 212
25. 16. Stock Market Bubbles 228
26. 17. Boycotts, Profiteers, and Evil Business 239
27. 18. The Wage- Price Spiral and Evil Labor Unions 258
28. Part IV. Advancing Narrative Economics
29. 19. Future Narratives, Future Research 271
30. Appendix: Applying Epidemic Models to Economic Narratives 289
31. Notes 301
32. References 325
33. Index 351