Cities and the wealth of nations
principles of economic life
by Jane Jacobs · first published 1984
71% recommend29% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Argues that city-regions, not nations, are the basic unit of economic growth, and that cities create new work from old work. Suits readers curious about economics and urban life who want a non-academic, idea-driven read.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Analyzes the economic functions, powers and limitations of cities and the uneasy relationship of cities with the national governments that preside over them.
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…at about 15 pounds) - from Powell's. If you found pg's cities essays interesting or clueless, read Jane Jacobs's trilogy on cities: The Death and Life of Great American Cities The Economy of Cities Cities and the Wealth of Nations The quality of the writing, and the thought, more than fully justify the hubris of the last title.
on “Ask YC (and PG): What books do you have on your bookshelf? ” ↗This reminds me of one of my unexpected favorite reads: Jane Jacob's "Cities & the Wealth of Nations" http://www.amazon.com/Cities-Wealth-Nations-Jane-Jacobs/dp/0... She argues that cities (more specifically, city-regions) are the most fundamental economic unit, and many of the problems that national economies encounter are a result of an imbalance created by tying together multiple city-region e
on “Bay Area as a City State” ↗"Crossing the Chasm" Geoffrey Moore "Entrepreneurship and Innovation" Peter Drucker "Cities and the Wealth of Nations" Jane Jacobs Also, check out "The Programmer's Stone" blog for great ideas on software team building and management.
on “Ask YC: Entrepreneurial/Startup Reading List?” ↗"Cities and the Wealth of Nations" by Jane Jacobs provides a much better analysis of the causes of wealth. Poverty is the natural state: wealth is the anomaly in the human condition. Most people in most places have always been poor.
on “Reason: Why poor countries are poor. ” ↗If anybody is interested in delving deeper into this, I would recommend that they read two of Jane Jacobs's books: The Economy of Cities and Cities and the Wealth of Nations.
on “Hacking Economies - What makes places rich?” ↗…analysis contradicts most open source theories and practice. A good Engineering Economics text may be useful. And I second the other commentors who suggested Jane Jacobs's "Economics of Cities" and "Cities and the Wealth of Nations" and O'Rourke's "Eat the Rich", his "On the Wealth of Nations", an analysis of Adam Smith's classic is also worth reading.
on “Ask HN: Getting a grip on economics” ↗Adventures of a Bystander by Peter Drucker. Jane Jacobs's three city books: The Death and Life of Great American Cities, The Economy of Cities, and Cities and the Wealth of Nations.
on “Ask HN: What is the greatest book you've ever read?” ↗…finding her The Life and Death of Great American Cities was a watershed for me (and I can still remember the marginalia in my uni's copy at one of her common-sense observations: "God bless you, Jane"). Cities and the Wealth of Nations and The Economy of Cities changed many of my perceptions of what economics was about and where its real centers lay (it's rarely nations or states, cities and metropolitan areas, yes). Wright's interesting.…
on “How Frank Lloyd Wright Tried to Solve the City” ↗For an earlier take, Jane Jacobs, Cities and the Wealth of Nations. https://www.worldcat.org/title/cities-and-the-wealth-of-nati...
on “How Hyperconnected Cities Are Taking Over the World” ↗…https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bad_Samaritans:_The_Myth_of_Fr... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WU9DgfOMpmo Economics: The User's Guide https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/may/29/economics-the-... Jane Jacobs Cities and the Wealth of Nations https://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/reviews/books/0-394-72911-0.htm...
on “Ask HN: What are you reading to make sense of the economy?” ↗Its not size of Firm, its new work from old work. See Jane Jacobs, The Economy of Cities and her other book Cities and the Wealth of Nations.
on “The missing middle: firms in developing countries” ↗+1 for Jane Jacobs' books. Just finished Cities and the Wealth of Nations.
on “Ask HN: Books with a high signal to noise ratio?” ↗…I've found extremely helpful for thinking about these things. Jane Jacobs on cities as the economic entities that really matter: The Death and Life of Great American Cities, The Economy of Cities, and Cities and the Wealth of Nations. Peter Drucker: Entrepreneurship and Innovation. and the classic textbook: Paul Samuelson: Economics
on “Ask HN: Getting a grip on economics” ↗If you liked that I recommend Jane Jacob's books, Cities and the Wealth of Nations is the classic.
on “Downtown is for People (1958)” ↗Jane Jacobs‘ book mentioned in the article is one that I highly recommend („The Death and Life of Great American Cities“; another one is „Cities and the Wealth of Nations“, here, if I remember correctly the theory is That cities are the drivers of economic growth, not countries. She even argues that cities have been the starting point of the agricultural revolution). There…
on “Social capital is the key to community development” ↗