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.
