Book description
The tension between what we wish for and what we can get, between values and opportunities, exists even at the purely individual level. A hermit on a mountain may value warm clothing and yet be hard-pressed to make it from the leaves, bark, or skins he can find. But when…
Why read it?
2 authors picked The Limits of Organization as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
In this slim book, Ken Arrow – Nobel laureate and “one of the transcendent minds in the history of economics” – reveals with extraordinary clarity many essential truths about how the world works and why.
The first of these four essays is among the most eloquent and succinct statement about the core conflicts humanity faces: between the individual and society, between freedoms and collective obligation, between compromise and commitment.
Given that context, Arrow builds a framework for understanding the nature of organizations: their purposes, processes, and the central role of information. The clarity with which Arrow has developed this economics…
From William's list on economics is much more than the study of the economy.
The core question in social science may well be this: markets or central planning? This short book contains one person’s take on that big question. That person, Ken Arrow, many believe to be the greatest economic theorist of the past hundred years. His clarity, constraint, and curiosity inspire awe. Arrow, who derived the fundamental welfare theorems of economics, describes the advantages markets as only he can without being blind to their shortcomings; markets reward selfishness and fail to include any defensible distribution of income. His rich, prescient analysis of formal organizations goes far beyond the standard transaction costs logic and…
From Scott's list on for aspiring or inspiring social scientist.
If you love The Limits of Organization...
The High House
The Victorian mansion, Evenmere, is the mechanism that runs the universe.
The lamps must be lit, or the stars die. The clocks must be wound, or Time ceases. The Balance between Order and Chaos must be preserved, or Existence crumbles.
Appointed the Steward of Evenmere, Carter Anderson must learn the…
Want books like The Limits of Organization?
Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like The Limits of Organization.
Share your top 3 reads of 2025!
And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.
1,210
readers submitted
so far, will you?
📚 If you like The Limits of Organization, you might also like...
Aggressor
It is April 1st, 2038. Day 60 of China's blockade of the rebel island of Taiwan.
The US government has agreed to provide Taiwan with a weapons system so advanced that it can disrupt the balance of power in the region. But what pilot would be crazy enough to run…
The Duke's Christmas Redemption
A Duke who has rejected love, a Lady who dreams of a love match, an arranged marriage, a house full of secrets, a most unneighborly neighbor, a plot to destroy reputations, an unexpected love that redeems it all.
Lady Charlotte Wyndham, given in an arranged marriage to a man she…
