With the same originality and astuteness that marked his widely praised Butterfly Economics, Paul Ormerod now examines the Iron Law of Failure as it applies to business and governmentand explains what can be done about it.Failure is all around us, asserts Ormerod. For every General Electricstill going strong after more than one hundred yearsthere are dozens of businesses like Central Leather, which was one of the worlds largest companies in 1912 but was liquidated in 1952. Ormerod debunks conventional economic theorythat the world economy ticks along in perfect equilibrium according to the best-laid plans of business and governmentand delves into the reasons for the failure of brands, entire companies, and public policies. Inspired by recent advances in evolutionary theory and biology, Ormerod illuminates the ways in which companies and policy-setting sectors of government behave much like living organisms: unless they evolve, they die. But he also makes clear how desirable social and economic outcomes may be achieved when individuals, companies and governments adapt in response to the actual behavior and requirements of their customers and constituents.Why Most Things Fail is a fascinating and provocative study of a truth all too seldom acknowledged.