Following on from his groundbreaking The Creative Economy in 2001, John Howkins' new book grew out of a research project for the Chinese State Council. Asked to provide a global overview of the creative economy, he took the opportunity to go back to first principles and work out a general theory that identifies three general conditions for a creative ecology: talent, freedom and markets. From this he proposes an evolved concept of the creative ecology. This is leading thinking for a new knowledge economy.