Extreme Economies

Reviews

A highly original approach to understanding what really makes economies tick. Both insightful and accessible to non-economists. Davies visits economies pushed to the limit and examines what their response teaches us about resilience in the face of climate change, demographic shifts and state failure. An exploration of the lessons to be drawn from disaster-stricken economies and imperilled (but innovative) people, which ranges from the jungles of Panama to post-tsunami Indonesia to the prison system of Louisiana and Syrian refugee camps. Financial Times Best Books of 2019: Extreme Economies is a reflection on human resilience. The author takes you from a prison to a refugee camp to Kinshasa and Santiago to explain how economies work in extreme circumstances and why markets succeed or fail. Weaving economic theory and individual life stories, this is an important and enjoyable read. We learn most about ourselves at times of extreme stress and challenge. Using nine compelling country case studies, Richard Davies brilliantly demonstrates that the same is true of our economic systems. In its approach and insights, Extreme Economies is a revelation - and a must-read. Richard Davies balances economics with art, exposing the trade-offs made by people living today and forcing us to question the outcomes of our decisions. Crisp and sensitive reporting from an extraordinary range of inaccessible places. As a discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of markets versus planned economies, Extreme Economies is one of the most subtle and surprising I have read. Extreme Economies makes sense of the forces shaping the future. Taken together, the books nine deep dives are a much needed reminder that an economy is not what happens when equations interact with data. An economy is what happens when people -- real people, people with names -- interact with people. Anyone who wants to learn economics, is learning economics, or pretends to know some economics should read this book. Accessible and original. The author draws on sociology and anthropology and the simple power of observation and conversation to bring economics alive. A fascinating book on economics in extremes. What happens when things go really wrong or are really different. Expand reviews