I just finished reading The Wisdom of Crowds by James Surowiecki. There are thought-provoking ideas in every chapter. It was well worth my time. My only criticisms would be that it has an occasional obfuscatory sentence, but my lack of understanding could be attributed to the fact that I was reading it at night after a long, stressful day at work.

My other complaint is only that he goes on and on about the stock market, to the point where I wondered if he weren't padding it a bit. He makes cogent remarks about selling short, though, which fit in nicely with his thesis and will probably give professional economists (and Alan Greenspan) fits.

His final paragraphs address democracy and its worth and its potential. I agree with his dismay at the current administration's lack of diversity of viewpoint and I am heartened by his belief that basically our democracy is sound and we will find our way yet to an intelligent outcome.