A quarterback like Green Bay's Aaron Rodgers gambles with a Hail Mary pass at the end of a football game when he has nothing to lose - the risky throw might turn defeat into victory or end in a meaningless interception. Rodgers may not realize it, but he has much in common with figures such as George Washington, Rosa Parks, Woodrow Wilson, and Adolph Hitler, who changed the modern world with their risk-loving decisions. In The Power of Nothing to Lose, award-winning economist William Silber explores the phenomenon in politics, war, and business, where situations with a significant upside and limited downside trigger gambling behaviour like a Hail Mary. Silber describes how the American Revolution turned into such a gamble in colourful detail. The famous scene of Washington crossing Delaware on Christmas night to attack the enemy may not look like a Hail Mary, but it was. Days before his risky decision, Washington said, "If this fails, I think the game will be pretty well up." Rosa Parks remained seated in the White section of an Alabama bus, defying local segregation laws, an act that sparked the modern civil rights movement in America. It was a life-threatening decision for her, but she said, "I was not frightened. I just made up my mind that it would continue as long as we accepted that kind of treatment, so I had nothing to lose.