Why did the west become so rich? Why is inequality on the rise? How 'free' should markets be? And what does sex have to do with it? In this passionate and skilfully argued book, leading feminist Victoria Bateman shows how we can only understand the burning economic issues of our time if we put sex and gender - 'the sex factor' - at the heart of the picture. Spanning the globe and drawing on thousands of years of history, Bateman weaves rigorous analysis with autobiographical insights to tell a bold, ambitious story about how the status and freedom of women - particularly freedom over their bodies - is central to our prosperity and economic wellbeing. Genuine female empowerment requires us to not only recognise the liberating potential of the market and the importance of smart government policies, but to also challenge the double-standard of many modern feminists when they celebrate the brain while denigrating the body. This iconoclastic book is a devastating expos of what we have lost from ignoring 'the sex factor', and how reversing this neglect can drive the economic policies we need to deliver a wealthy, environmentally sustainable and equal society in the twenty-first century.