Success and Luck

New York Times economics columnist Robert H. Frank argues that the rich underestimate how much chance shapes economic success, and that the misunderstanding harms everyone, the wealthy included. He starts from a dispute that splits conservatives and liberals: great fortunes usually go to talented, hardworking people, yet many with the same traits never earn much. Frank shows how, in winner-take-all markets, small early advantages and lucky breaks often grow into huge income gaps over time, how false beliefs about luck survive the evidence against them, and how those beliefs distort personal and political choices. He also proposes modest, unintrusive policies that he says could free trillions of dollars a year for infrastructure, healthcare and the fight against poverty.

Etisalat Nigeria chief executive Hakeem Belo-Osagie named it in a What CEOs Are Reading roundup.