The Last Dance of Rationality

An essential account of the major events of the twenty-first century Allegations that lab leaks led to a global pandemic. The astounding rise and fall of cryptocurrency. The proliferation of polarizing leaders. The continuous unrest in Afghanistan, the Middle East and Ukraine. It is clear that the world as we know it is rapidly unravelling. If you’ve ever caught yourself wondering: ‘What’s going on? How did we get here? Where are we headed?’ this book has some answers for you. In clear prose, economist Rohit Prasad examines the major economic, geopolitical and social events of the current century, including the COVID-19 pandemic, the US debacle in Afghanistan, the rise of Trump, the appeal of Putin, the influence of Big Tech and the erosion of human relationships. Along the way, Prasad reveals how the ideology of ‘rationality’ helped build our world, and how the current fault lines represent its highest development as well as its last dance. Praises ‘Prasad’s book is a dazzling tour de force that spans economics, geopolitics, technology, and society to portray an age whose ‘illusions have run their course’. Deeply insightful in identifying the structural causes and interconnections that have created these ‘illusory’ times, The Last Dance of Rationality is essential reading for our era of beguiling complexity.’ Siddhartha Mukherjee, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Emperor of Maladies ‘In The Last Dance of Rationality, Rohit Prasad masterfully navigates the tangled web of interconnected economic, political, social, and ecological risks that confront the global community. With rare clarity, Prasad vividly illustrates the critical inflection point at which the world now finds itself [highlighting] his thesis that the ‘Ideology of Rationality’ has done much for the world, but has come to unravel under the weight of its own internal contradictions. This work is both timely and indispensable.’ Augusto Lopez-Claros, Executive Director of the Global Governance Forum Rea