BIRAN, Shraga F. << back to list Shraga F. Biran is the founder and owner of one of Israel’s leading law firms, and entrepreneur specializing in international real estate and energy industries. He has worked for decades for the advancement of social, economic and political platforms. Biran’s first book, In Tears Shall They Reap, was published in 1999. Bibliography & Foreign sales IN PRAISE OF OPPORTUNISM; An Introduction to the Theory of Opportunities (Economic Philosophy) 2008 Complete English translation available What is opportunity? What makes us miss it? Which ideologies bar opportunity from us? What are the barriers we must break down to enable us to seize it? How can the theory of opportunity help deal effectively with poverty? Opportunity, as an independent phenomenon, has never been the subject of a serious study. Biran disassociates the word opportunism from its historically pejorative definition and redefines the concept as ”the unanticipated conjunction of circumstances and events, capabilities and advantages that create a possibility, a situation which in itself is a positive achievement.” He validates opportunism as a meritorious economic philosophy that replaces the failed ideologies of the last century, does battle against fate, and liberates humanity. In this economic model for the 21st century Biran introduces the concept of Creative Opportunity, applying it to the rapidly expanding new class of innovators who are responsible for as much as 80% of newly created wealth, yet are denied a fair share of the benefits of their legally unprotected intellectual property. Opportunism reconciles capitalism and elitist privatization with social justice and promotes the struggle against economic and social injustice through social privatization and equitable distribution of new wealth and property. Rights sold to: USA: Farrar, Straus & Giroux; Israel: Miskal/Yediot Books Reviews ”Summing up Biran’s ideas is an injustice to the depth of thought and range of subjects dealt with in this book.” Yediot Achronot ”Shraga Biran has woven a fascinating tapestry depicting the economy and the society of the past, present and future, splicing together his vast store of knowledge in various spheres and a penetrating and provocative way of looking at reality. The new world, according to Biran, is a world of opportunity, a post-industrial internet world. The new ideology, with opportunity as its core, is presented with both a profundity and an originality that make the book unique.”Avia Spivak, Professor of Economics, Ben-Gurion University and former vice-governor of the Bank of Israel.