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