Review by Choice Review
To be effectively critical, it helps to be an insider and, at a bare minimum, to know what you are talking about. As the "alternative facts" piled up (e.g., Samuelson did not invent the circular flow and Knight did not believe in homo economicus), this reviewer became convinced Raworth did not know enough about the history of economics. To be effectively critical, it makes sense to woo your audience, a la Keynes's "long struggle of escape," but Raworth paints a picture of economics as mindless, worthless, and without any redeeming qualities or content. So, yes, for non-experts who know that neoliberal economics has lost its way, this is a fine book. Its airy, flippant prose matches the superficial engagement with ideas, and the faithful will welcome hearing that economics is bankrupt. But make no mistake--this book is most certainly not an effective criticism of modern economics. Its impact on economics will be vanishingly small. Summing Up: Not recommended. --Humberto Barreto, DePauw University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
This sharp, insightful call for a shift in thinking from economist Raworth posits that a long-overdue intellectual revolution has finally begun. According to her, the established model of economic thought no longer satisfies economics students, who are calling out for change; the education they're receiving is out of pace with current economic realities. To formulate a better model, Raworth reversed the way she'd previously looked at economics. Rather than relying on established truisms, she laid out long-term goals for humankind and worked to figure out how economic thinking would allow us to achieve them. The result is a diagram consisting of a series of rings around a hollow center-the titular doughnut. Raworth places a "safe and just space for humanity" in a ring between a social foundation and an ecological ceiling, leaving human deprivation and planetary degradation, respectively, in the doughnut "hole" and outside the doughnut. The plan to move forward consists of seven ideas, such as shifting the goal of economists from addressing financial to humanitarian concerns, recognizing ecology as a significant factor in economic growth, responsibly redistributing wealth, and so on. This is a highly optimistic look at the global economy, and Raworth's energetic, layperson-friendly writing makes her concept accessible as well as intriguing. (May) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
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