Extreme Economies

ISBN

Publisher

Imprint

Year Published

Print Length

Format

SKU

9781784163259
Black Swan
N/A
2020
320
Paperback
21119

400.00

In stock

or

Description

Extreme Economies is a revelation – and a must-read.’ Andy Haldane, Chief Economist at the Bank of England

To understand how humans react and adapt to economic change we need to study people who live in harsh environments. From death-row prisoners trading in institutions where money is banned to flourishing entrepreneurs in the world’s largest refugee camp, from the unrealised potential of cities like Kinshasa to the hyper-modern economy of Estonia, every life in this book has been hit by a seismic shock, violently broken or changed in some way.

In his quest for a purer view of how economies succeed and fail, Richard Davies takes the reader off the beaten path to places where part of the economy has been repressed, removed, destroyed or turbocharged. He tells the personal stories of humans living in these extreme situations, and of the financial infrastructure they create. Far from the familiar stock reports, housing crises, or banking scandals of the financial pages, Extreme Economies reveals the importance of human and social capital, and in so doing tells small stories that shed light on today’s biggest economic questions.

‘A highly original approach to understanding what really makes economies tick.’ Mervyn King, former Governor of the Bank of England

Praise and Reviews

To understand how humans react and adapt to economic change we need to study people who live in harsh environments. From war zones, natural disasters and failed states, to aging societies and the challenges of technological advancement, every life in this book has been hit by a seismic shock, violently broken or changed in some way. People living in these odd and marginal places are ignored by number crunching economists and political pollsters alike. Science suggests this is a mistake. This book tells the personal stories of humans living in extreme situations, and of the financial infrastructure they create. Here, economies are not concerned with the familiar stock market crashes, housing crises, or banking scandals of the financial pages. In his quest for a purer view of how economies succeed and fail, Richard Davies takes the reader off the beaten path to places where part of the economy has been repressed, removed, destroyed or turbocharged. By travelling to each of them and discovering what life is really like, Extreme Economies tells small stories that shed light on today’s biggest economic questions, with vital lessons for our future.

About the Author

RICHARD DAVIES is an economist based in London. He is a fellow at the London School of Economics, and has held senior posts in economic policymaking and journalism. He has been Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers at HM Treasury, an economist and speechwriter at the Bank of England, and economics editor of The Economist. Richard has published widely on economics. He was the editor of The Economist’s recent guide to economics (Profile, 2015; CITIC 2018) and his articles have featured in The Guardian, The Sunday Times, The Times and 1843 Magazine. He is the author of numerous research papers and is a founding trustee of CORE, a charity which provides open-access resources for economics teachers and students in universities across the world.

Extreme Economies

Description

'Extreme Economies is a revelation - and a must-read.' Andy Haldane, Chief Economist at the Bank of England To understand how humans react and adapt to economic change we need to study people who live in harsh environments. From death-row prisoners trading in institutions where money is banned to flourishing entrepreneurs in the world's largest refugee camp, from the unrealised potential of cities like Kinshasa to the hyper-modern economy of Estonia, every life in this book has been hit by a seismic shock, violently broken or changed in some way. In his quest for a purer view of how economies succeed and fail, Richard Davies takes the reader off the beaten path to places where part of the economy has been repressed, removed, destroyed or turbocharged. He tells the personal stories of humans living in these extreme situations, and of the financial infrastructure they create. Far from the familiar stock reports, housing crises, or banking scandals of the financial pages, Extreme Economies reveals the importance of human and social capital, and in so doing tells small stories that shed light on today's biggest economic questions. 'A highly original approach to understanding what really makes economies tick.' Mervyn King, former Governor of the Bank of England

Praise and Reviews

To understand how humans react and adapt to economic change we need to study people who live in harsh environments. From war zones, natural disasters and failed states, to aging societies and the challenges of technological advancement, every life in this book has been hit by a seismic shock, violently broken or changed in some way. People living in these odd and marginal places are ignored by number crunching economists and political pollsters alike. Science suggests this is a mistake. This book tells the personal stories of humans living in extreme situations, and of the financial infrastructure they create. Here, economies are not concerned with the familiar stock market crashes, housing crises, or banking scandals of the financial pages. In his quest for a purer view of how economies succeed and fail, Richard Davies takes the reader off the beaten path to places where part of the economy has been repressed, removed, destroyed or turbocharged. By travelling to each of them and discovering what life is really like, Extreme Economies tells small stories that shed light on today’s biggest economic questions, with vital lessons for our future.

About the Author

RICHARD DAVIES is an economist based in London. He is a fellow at the London School of Economics, and has held senior posts in economic policymaking and journalism. He has been Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers at HM Treasury, an economist and speechwriter at the Bank of England, and economics editor of The Economist. Richard has published widely on economics. He was the editor of The Economist’s recent guide to economics (Profile, 2015; CITIC 2018) and his articles have featured in The Guardian, The Sunday Times, The Times and 1843 Magazine. He is the author of numerous research papers and is a founding trustee of CORE, a charity which provides open-access resources for economics teachers and students in universities across the world.
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