Fortune Favors Optimism shows us how, in the history of economic thought, faith in the future has always been crucial – and how it still can be for us and our planet. This tract by Luciano Canova is a theoretical and practical examination of human decisions and their consequences: because, as the innovations of the twentieth century demonstrate, we achieve the best and most lasting improvements for all when our actions are driven by the conviction that positive change is possible.

Consider today’s world. Despite all its inequalities and crises, we certainly cannot say that advancements haven’t been made, even just in respect to the previous century: a steep drop in infant mortality, a steady rise in literacy rates, a global decrease of poverty. Starting by debunking both the nostalgic thinking that leads us to idealizing the past, as well as the apocalyptic thinking that paints a gloomy picture of the future, Canova encourages us to trust in the economic tools being deployed to set the world on the road to environmental sustainability and social peace. Moving between economics, behavioral science and psychology, and drawing from the musings of Nobel prize recipients like Esther Duflo and Amartya Sen, as well as the studies of Paul Romer and Erik Angner, this book invites each of us, in our own lives, to consciously accept the risk: to innovate, to welcome uncertainty and face the unexpected, while still remaining on guard against the dangers brought by excess faith in ourselves and confirmation bias that can lead us to ignoring problems until they consume us.

A new perspective, which doesn’t downplay the big issues of today – climate change above all –, but instead vociferously insists that it is only in recognizing challenges and, with positive thinking, allowing ourselves to see beyond them, that we can find creative and truly effective solutions.

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