With analytical brilliance and moral persuasiveness, Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen presents a landmark work that puts individual freedom at the center of a comprehensive analysis of today's global economy. This magisterial synthesis of the ideas and perspective that won Professor Sen the 1998 Nobel Prize in Economic Science provides an accessible, paradigm-altering framework for understanding economic development--for both rich and poor--in the twenty-first century. Freedom, Sen argues, is both the end and most efficient means of sustaining economic life and the key to securing the general welfare of the world's entire population. Releasing the idea of individual freedom from association with any particular historical, intellectual, political, or religious tradition, Sen clearly demonstrates its current applicability and possibilities. By considering the question 'What is the relation between our economic wealth and our ability to live as we would like?' Sen is able to make global economics once again address the social basis of individual well-being and freedom. His perspective allows us to practically--and even optimistically--confront the modern dilemma that 'despite unprecedented increases in overall opulence, the contemporary world denies elementary freedoms to vast numbers--perhaps even the majority--of people.'