编辑推荐
• Written with the minimum of jargon and with the assumption of little prior knowledge
• Written in modular style: chapters act as stand-alone introductions to different areas in the history of ideas and economic methodology
• Provides guidance for how new, more Romantic, assumptions and models can be integrated into research practice, as well as examples from practising economists and political scientists of how this can work
内容简介
Since economies are dynamic processes driven by creativity, social norms, and emotions as well as rational calculation, why do economists largely study them using static equilibrium models and narrow rationalistic assumptions? Economic activity is as much a function of imagination and social sentiments as of the rational optimisation of given preferences and goods. Richard Bronk argues that economists can best model and explain these creative and social aspects of markets by using new structuring assumptions and metaphors derived from the poetry and philosophy of the Romantics. By bridging the divide between literature and science, and between Romanticism and narrow forms of Rationalism, economists can access grounding assumptions, models, and research methods suitable for comprehending the creativity and social dimensions of economic activity. This is a guide to how economists and other social scientists can broaden their analytical repertoire to encompass the vital role of sentiments, language, and imagination.
作者简介
Richard Bronk spent the first seventeen years of his career working in the City of London, where he gained a wide expertise in international economics, business, and politics. He is now a writer and part-time academic, and a Visiting Fellow in the European Institute at the London School of Economics and Political Science.
精彩书评
"The Romantic Economist is a miracle, combining sophisticated economics with, of all things, sophisticated literary criticism-in aid of the economics. An economics that recognized our Wordsworthian selves, Richard Bronk argues in a lucid and learned style, would do much better at the analysis of getting and spending. The world is too much with us if we do not have a humanistic science of economics. Bronk is among the handful of modern students of the economy who sees this clear. Literary folk can learn from Bronk about the dismal science. But it is the tribe of the Econ who need him most. Fortunately they will find the needful assignment here a delight."
-- Deirdre McCloskey, author of The Bourgeois Virtues: Ethics for an Age of Commerce (2006)
"Bronk's The Romantic Economist is a highly original exploration of the ways in which an understanding of the Romantic tradition can help enrich and improve our economic thinking. With a rare command of orthodox economics, philosophy and literature, Bronk shows how our view of economic life is shaped by metaphors that limit our vision. Arguing that absorbing some of the insights into human action of Romantic writers enables us to correct these distortions, Bronk liberates economics from the stultifying effects of an over-mechanical view of human action. His book will be read with profit by political theorists, historians of ideas and - not least - practising economists."
-- John Gray, Emeritus Professor of European Thought, London School of Economics.
"This is a truly riveting book which carries one, with wit, analytical sharpness and an unusual clarity of style, through two centuries of Anglo-Saxon debate between political philosophers, political economists, poets and public intellectuals over the nature of economics. It establishes Richard Bronk as a substantial intellectual in the cultural history of economic thought."
-- David Soskice, Research Professor of Comparative Political Economy, Oxford University and Research Professor of Political Science, Duke University.
"... fascinating new book"
-- Larry Elliott, Economics Editor, The Guardian
"... a fascinating blast against simplistic maths-based thinking, in favour of what he calls the Romantic Economist.... a very radical book.... very persuasive."
-- Andrew Marr, BBC Radio 4
目录
Preface
Acknowledgements
1. Preface to The Romantic Economist
Part I. The Prelude: The Romantic Economist and the History of Ideas:
2. The great divide
3. Debates within political economy
4. Lessons from Romanticism
Part II. Fragments of Unity: Romantic Economics in Practice:
5. Using organic metaphors in economics
6. Economics and the nation state
7. Incommensurable values
8. Imagination and creativity in markets
9. Homo romanticus and other homines
10. Imagination and perspective in economics
11. The Romantic economist: conclusion.
《数字之舞:数据驱动时代的商业洞察与决策艺术》 作者: [此处可虚构一位知名数据科学家或商业分析师的名字,例如:艾略特·里德 (Elliot Reid)] 出版社: [此处可虚构一家专业商业出版社,例如:普罗米修斯商业出版社 (Prometheus Business Press)] ISBN: [虚构的ISBN号,例如:978-1-56789-012-3] --- 内容简介: 在这个由海量数据洪流驱动的时代,商业的疆域正以前所未有的速度重塑。企业不再仅仅依赖直觉或历史经验进行决策,而是需要一套精密的工具和深刻的洞察力,将原始的比特和字节转化为可执行的战略优势。《数字之舞:数据驱动时代的商业洞察与决策艺术》正是为应对这一挑战而诞生的里程碑式著作。本书超越了肤浅的技术指南,深入探讨了如何将复杂的数据分析转化为清晰、可衡量的商业价值,揭示了数据科学如何从后台支持角色,跃升为驱动现代企业创新的核心引擎。 本书的核心在于构建一个完整的“数据决策闭环”——从数据的采集、清洗、建模,到洞察的提炼,最终落实为影响市场、优化运营、乃至重塑商业模式的行动。作者艾略特·里德以其多年在全球顶尖科技公司和金融机构的实战经验为基础,构建了一套既具理论深度又极富操作性的分析框架。 第一部分:范式转移——理解数据的本质与商业语境 在开篇章节,本书首先剖析了当前商业环境的“数据化”进程,强调了传统商业思维与数据驱动思维之间的根本区别。里德指出,数据不再是报告的附属品,而是战略资产本身。他详细阐述了大数据(Volume, Velocity, Variety, Veracity)的四大挑战,并提出了“情境化分析”的概念——即任何数据点只有置于正确的商业背景之下,才能显现其真实价值。 书中深入探讨了“相关性与因果性”的永恒难题。在机器学习模型日益强大的今天,区分“预测的准确性”与“决策的有效性”至关重要。作者通过一系列引人入胜的案例,阐释了如何设计实验(如A/B测试的进阶应用),以更严谨地验证商业假设,避免因过度依赖相关性分析而导致的资源错配。 第二部分:构建洞察的引擎——从数据到行动的桥梁 本书的中间部分是全书的技术与方法论核心。它并没有沉溺于复杂的数学公式,而是聚焦于“如何选择正确的工具来解决特定的商业问题”。里德将数据分析工具划分为三大类:描述性分析(发生了什么)、诊断性分析(为什么发生)、预测性分析(将要发生什么),以及规定性分析(我们应该做什么)。 描述与诊断: 作者详细讲解了关键绩效指标(KPIs)的设计与陷阱。他强调,好的KPI必须是可行动的,并介绍了“仪表盘设计艺术”,确保管理层能够一眼洞察运营的健康状况,并能快速追溯异常的根源。 预测建模的商业落地: 针对预测分析,本书着重介绍了时间序列分析在需求预测、库存管理中的应用,以及分类模型在客户流失预警、欺诈检测中的实际部署流程。更重要的是,作者提供了如何向非技术高管解释模型不确定性和置信区间的方法,确保技术输出能被决策层有效采纳。 优化与推荐系统: 在规定性分析层面,本书引入了运筹学和强化学习的入门概念,用浅显的语言解释了它们如何用于优化物流路线、动态定价策略和个性化推荐引擎,从而直接提升企业的营收效率。 第三部分:数据治理与伦理的基石 数据驱动的强大力量也带来了前所未有的责任。本书的后半部分专门探讨了数据治理、隐私保护和算法公平性这一至关重要的领域。里德认为,缺乏信任的数据基础设施,最终将导致决策的失效。 书中详述了构建健壮的数据治理框架的必要步骤,包括数据血缘追踪(Data Lineage)、元数据管理(Metadata Management)以及数据质量的持续监控。在数据隐私法规日益收紧的背景下,作者提供了关于“隐私增强技术”(PETs)的实用概述,指导企业如何在利用数据的同时,确保对客户的尊重和合规性。 此外,关于“算法偏见”的讨论尤为深刻。作者通过多个行业(如信贷审批、招聘筛选)的案例,揭示了训练数据中固有的偏见如何被放大并固化在自动化决策系统中。本书提供了一套系统的“偏见审计流程”,帮助组织识别、量化并减轻算法决策中的不公平性,从而构建一个既高效又符合社会责任的智能系统。 第四部分:组织文化的重塑——培养数据素养 最终,技术和模型只是工具,真正的变革发生在人与流程中。《数字之舞》的收尾聚焦于组织层面的变革管理。数据驱动型企业需要的不是更多的分析师,而是拥有“数据素养”的每一位员工。 本书提出了“从报告驱动到提问驱动”的文化转型策略。它指导领导者如何建立跨职能的数据团队(Data Translator角色),如何激励业务部门主动挑战现状、利用数据进行探索性分析,以及如何将数据洞察无缝嵌入到日常的工作流程中,实现真正的“数据民主化”。 读者对象: 本书是为寻求在复杂市场中获得竞争优势的: 企业高管(CEO, COO, CFO)和部门负责人。 商业分析师、数据科学家和数据工程师团队领导。 MBA学生及对商业智能和决策科学感兴趣的专业人士。 《数字之舞》不仅仅是一本关于技术如何运行的书,它更是一本关于领导力、战略思维和未来商业远见的指南。它将引导读者掌握数据这门“新语言”,从而在下一次商业浪潮中翩翩起舞,而不是被淹没。