Sharp, significant and rigorously argued, Raworth’s book packs seven shrewd lessons about economics in the 21st century, unravelling the various ways mainstream economics tends to misguide us and what can be done to change this. Doughnut Economics is a cogent action statement that points the way to a better future.
As the ingenious twentieth-century investor Buckminster Fuller once said, ‘You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete’.
This book takes up the challenge, setting out seven mind-shifting ways in which we can all learn to think like twenty-first-century economists.
Economics is broken.
It has failed to predict, let alone prevent, financial crises that have shaken the foundations of our societies. Its out-dated theories have permitted a world in which extreme poverty persists while the wealth of the super-rich grows year on year. And its blind spots have led to policies that are degrading the living world on a scale that threatens all of our futures. Can it be fixed?
In Doughnut Economics, Oxford academic Kate Raworth identifies seven critical ways in which mainstream economics has led us astray, and sets out a roadmap for bringing humanity into a sweet spot that meets the needs of all within the means of the planet. En route, she deconstructs the character of "Rational economic man" and explains what really makes us tick.
She reveals how an obsession with equilibrium has left economists helpless when facing the boom and bust of the real-world economy. She highlights the dangers of ignoring the role of energy and nature's resources - and the far-reaching implications for economic growth when we take them into account. And in the process, she creates a new, cutting-edge economic model that is fit for the 21st century - one in which a doughnut-shaped compass points the way to human progress.
Ambitious, radical and rigorously argued, Doughnut Economics promises to reframe and redraw the future of economics for a new generation.
'I read this book with the excitement that the people of his day must have read John Maynard Keynes's General Theory. It is brilliant, thrilling and revolutionary.' - George Monbiot
Publisher: Cornerstone
ISBN: 9781847941398
Number of pages: 384
Weight: 308 g
Dimensions: 196 x 128 x 24 mm
I’ve never seen [the concepts in Doughnut Economics] laid out so clearly, compellingly, or cheekily. Social entrepreneurs, it’s doughnut time – and I strongly recommend that you take a bite. - Four Books Every Social Entrepreneur Should Read, Forbes
Doughnut Economics shows how to ensure dignity and prosperity for all people. - Huffington Post
A compelling and timely intervention. - Caroline Lucas MP, Books of the Year, The Ecologist
A book you will need to know about . . . Kate writes beautifully . . . If only 10% of the ideas get implemented, the world will be a much better place. - World Bank blog
A sharp, insightful call for a shift in thinking . . . Raworth’s energetic, layperson-friendly writing makes her concept accessible as well as intriguing. - Publishers Weekly
Kate Raworth, formerly of Oxfam, shows that the undulations of equality and justice are really very profound . . . [Her] aim is to adjust human use of the processes of planetary dynamics so that the overall outcome of development is survival in peace, health, prosperity and companionship. - British Academy Review
Proposes a new economic model – one that embeds the human economy within the natural world and within society, rather than being distinct from either. - The Ecologist
An innovative vision about how we could refocus away from growth to thriving. - Daily Mail
A brand new way of conceptualising economic development without being tied to infinite growth . . . A useful idea. - Guardian
There are some really important economic and political thinkers around at the moment – such as Kate Raworth's Doughnut Economics . . . I get the sense that a major period of new thinking and political creativity is coming. - Andrew Marr, Guardian
An admirable attempt to broaden the horizons of economic thinking. - Martin Wolf, Books of the Year, Financial Times
Kate Raworth's well-received Doughnut Economics makes clear . . . [that] we have to enter a new age of thought, of communication, of politics. - Natalie Bennett, The Ecologist
This is sharp, significant scholarship . . . Thrilling. - Times Higher Education
Required summer reading for Labour politicians and activists. - openDemocracy
Another look at measuring growth . . . Raworth makes several key suggestions for reform. - MoneyWeek
At last – an economic model that won't destroy the planet . . . I see [Raworth] as the John Maynard Keynes of the 21st Century: by reframing the economy, she allows us to change our view of who we are, where we stand, and what we want to be. - George Monbiot, Guardian
Asks some simple and pertinent questions. Why do we tax employment, through payroll taxes, but not the use of such scarce resources as fresh water, the Earth’s minerals, wood and soil? [Raworth's] biggest question, however, is one that terrifies all mainstream economists: is ‘growth’ endless? - Andrew Marr, Spectator
[Reveals] the huge hold in the standard economic model . . . offers a mountaintop view of the world. - Knowledge@Wharton: The Journal of Wharton Business School
Judiciously combining history, theory, anecdotes and diagrams, [Raworth] provides a narrative that is easy to follow . . . Worthwhile and challenging. - Frontline
A radical and solidly-argued book . . . Plausible and informative. - El Pais
I was educated in the "classical" economics that have held way since the mid 20th Century. I think that this is the first step forward since then. Green Economics had some good ideas but this is the first... More
Kate Raworth perfectly explains sustainable economics, how and why we they should become sustainable against the extension threat of climate change - which she accuses is the cause of our current economic system. Not... More
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