In this book, Nobel Prize-winning economist Edmund Phelps draws on a lifetime of thinking to make a sweeping new argument about what makes nations prosper - and why the sources of that prosperity are under threat today. Why did prosperity explode in some nations between the 1820s and 1960s, creating not just unprecedented material wealth but "flourishing" - meaningful work, self-expression, and personal growth for more people than ever before? Phelps makes the case that the wellspring of this flourishing was modern values such as the desire to create, explore, and meet challenges. These values fueled the grassroots dynamism that was necessary for widespread, indigenous innovation. Most innovation wasn't driven by a few isolated visionaries like Henry Ford; rather, it was driven by millions of people empowered to think of, develop, and market innumerable new products and processes, and improvements to existing ones. Mass flourishing - a combination of material well-being and the "good life" in a broader sense - was created by this mass innovation. Yet indigenous innovation and flourishing weakened decades ago. In America, evidence indicates that innovation and job satisfaction have decreased since the late 1960s, while postwar Europe has never recaptured its former dynamism. The reason, Phelps argues, is that the modern values underlying the modern economy are under threat by a resurgence of traditional, corporatist values that put the community and state over the individual. The ultimate fate of modern values is now the most pressing question for the West: will Western nations recommit themselves to modernity, grassroots dynamism, indigenous innovation, and widespread personal fulfillment, or will we go on with a narrowed innovation that limits flourishing to a few? A book of immense practical and intellectual importance, Mass Flourishing is essential reading for anyone who cares about the sources of prosperity and the future of the West.

埃德蒙德•费尔普斯

2006年诺贝尔经济学奖获得者，就业与增长理论奠基人，“现代宏观经济学缔造者”和“影响经济学进程最重要的人物”之一。费尔普斯教授最重要的贡献在于经济增长理论，他继罗伯特•索洛之后，对经济增长的动态最优化路径进行了分析，提出了著名的“经济增长黄金律”，从而正式确立了经济增长理论。

费尔普斯对中国经济也并不陌生，他曾多次访华，对中国经济的发展有广泛的了解。在“2005诺贝尔奖获得者北京论坛”上，他通过模型分析得出结论称：“中国目前的发展模式，从经济学的角度来看是合理的，但也是复杂的。”费尔普斯的理论在上世纪首先被运用在美国和西方其他一些发达国家的经济政策制定中。在今天全新的全球经济背景下，费尔普斯的经济理论也会对发展中国家的经济发展提供理论支持。尤其对于今天的中国具有重要的参考价值，因为中国经济也必须应对失业率、通货膨胀和提高投资效率等问题。

费尔普斯认为，中国的机制促进了公众创造问题并解决问题的能力，极大地提高了生产力。这种机制让绝大多数人参与进来，并促进了社会全面发展。观察表明，中国公众正从事越来越有趣味和具有挑战性及高回报率的工作。参与解决或挖掘新问题的人越多，或其参与程度越高时，经济发展的水平就越高。中国的情况符合于此，由此得出关于中国经济发展前景的肯定推断。他认为，中国要继续保持生产率和工资水平的快速增长，就必须加速自主创新，因为不再能指望西方国家代替自己完成创新任务。此外，如果中国经济要完成从中等收入向领先水平的转轨，也必须找到开发必要的经济活力的手段。

费尔普斯出生于美国伊利诺伊州，1959年获美国耶鲁大学博士学位，现任闽江学院新华都商学院院长。