Edible Economics, HaJoon Chang
Edible Economics, HaJoon Chang
List: $24.99 | Sale: $17.50
Club: $12.49

Edible Economics
A Hungry Economist Explains the World

Author: Ha-Joon Chang

Narrator: Homer Todiwala

Unabridged: 6 hr 6 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: PublicAffairs

Published: 01/17/2023


Synopsis

Edible Economics brings the sort of creative fusion that spices up a great kitchen to the often too-disciplined subject of economics

For decades, a single, free-market philosophy has dominated global economics. But this intellectual monoculture is bland and unhealthy.

Bestselling author and economist Ha-Joon Chang makes challenging economic ideas delicious by plating them alongside stories about food from around the world, using the diverse histories behind familiar food items to explore economic theory. For Chang, chocolate is a lifelong addiction, but more exciting are the insights it offers into postindustrial knowledge economies; and while okra makes Southern gumbo heart-meltingly smooth, it also speaks of capitalism’s entangled relationship with freedom. 

Myth-busting, witty, and thought-provoking, Edible Economics serves up a feast of bold ideas about globalization, climate change, immigration, austerity, automation, and why carrots need not be orange. It shows that getting to grips with the economy is like learning a recipe: when we understand it, we can adapt and improve it—and better understand our world.
 

About Ha-Joon Chang

Ha-Joon Chang has taught in the Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge, since 1990. He has consulted for numerous international organizations, including the United Nations, the World Bank, and the Asian Development Bank. He has published eleven books, including Kicking Away the Ladder, winner of the 2003 Myrdal Prize. In 2005, Chang was awarded the Leontief Prize for Advancing the Frontiers of Economic Thought, whose previous recipients include Amartya Sen and John Kenneth Galbraith.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Kuszma on November 09, 2024

Van némi bűntudatom ezzel a könyvvel kapcsolatban. Ugyanis legalább egy vevőnek azzal adtam el, hogy a gasztronómia változásán keresztül mutatja be a közgazdaságtani mechanizmusokat - ez egyfajta wishful thinking volt részemről, mert úgy éreztem, érdekes, értelemmel bíró megközelítés lenne. Ezzel sz......more

Goodreads review by Makmild on February 06, 2024

4.5 5 ดาวสำหรับความตั้งใจเขียน ไม่ใช่ผู้เชี่ยวชาญทุกคนที่มีความตั้งใจจะเขียนหนังสือให้ทำความเข้าใจง่ายๆ เพื่อนักอ่าน beginner level แล้วประสบความสำเร็จ อย่างแย่สุดคือ ทำให้เรื่องยากยากกว่าเดิมจนขยาด อย่างดีคือทำให้นักอ่านมีความรู้มากขึ้นจนอยากศึกษามากขึ้นกว่าเดิมแม้จะยังไม่รู้เรื่องก็ตาม ฮาจุนชางเป็น......more

Goodreads review by Alyson on December 05, 2022

It took food to get me interested in economics, but it worked!......more

Goodreads review by Julian on October 19, 2024

First - here are two questions: 1) Which country was the first to abolish slavery and when? 2) Which two countries have the most industrialised economies in the world producing the largest amount of manufacturing output per person? Answers at the bottom. This is a book about the history of food and mode......more

Goodreads review by Maliha on June 08, 2023

Warning ⚠️ do not read this book on an empty stomach. Progress in economic thought comes in three stages; first they laugh at you, then they fight you, then they ask you to write a quirky book explaining your ideas to a mass audience. This book is myth-busting, witty, and thought-provoking, Edible Ec......more


Quotes

"The only book I've ever read that made me laugh, salivate and re-evaluate my thoughts about economics – all at the same time. A funny, profound and appetising volume."—Brian Eno, composer

"A brilliant riposte to the myth that policymakers can survive on plain neoliberal fare. Edible Economics is a moveable feast of alternative economic ideas wrapped up in witty stories about food from around the world. Ha-Joon Chang proves yet again that he is one of the most exciting economists at work today."—Owen Jones

"A fascinating stew of food, history and economics."—Tim Spector

"Ha-Joon Chang has done it again. His prose delights and nourishes in equal measure. Somehow he manages to smuggle an urgent discussion of the relevance of economics to our daily lives into stories about food and cooking that are charming, funny and sweet (but never sour). In taking on the economic establishment, Chang is like a teddy bear savaging a rottweiler."—David Pilling