"Markets, Mr. Davies engagingly shows, can make an extreme situation less extreme . . . a compelling portrait of markets functioning—and sometimes malfunctioning—in all sorts of conditions and cultures." —William Easterly, The Wall Street Journal
"All nine studies [in Extreme Economies] are engagingly written and genuinely interesting, each a dive into a corner of the world you don’t hear much about that conveys, briefly and clearly, a sense of how this far-off place works . . . Davies’s visit to Zaatari, a massive, hastily built camp for Syrian refugees in Jordan, is fascinating reportage on its own terms and also a brilliant illustration of Adam Smith’s observations about the power of the natural human tendency to 'truck, barter and exchange one thing for another.'" —Matthew Yglesias, The New York Times Book Review
"Richard Davies's Extreme Economies is a reflection on human resistance . . . Weaving economic theory and individual life stories, this is an important and enjoyable read." —Roula Khalaf, Financial Times
"Accessible and original . . . [Extreme Economies] is not doctrinaire. It shows that markets can work wonders in unlikely places but work perversely in others and need a structure of social organisation within which to function. [Richard Davies] draws on sociology and anthropology and the simple power of observation and conversation to bring economics alive." —Vince Cable, New Statesman
"Davies, a former economics editor of The Economist, debuts with a well-curated, globe-spanning study of nine irregular financial systems to understand where the modern world is headed . . . In each location, Davies keeps his perspective on broad, and often disturbing, historical trends while celebrating the resourcefulness of the individuals and communities he profiles. . . This ambitious and thought-provoking guide helps to make sense of the economic future." —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Davies delivers . . . 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." —Tim Harford, Financial Times
"Extreme Economies makes sense of the forces shaping the future—urbanization, aging, technological change, gains and losses of human and social capital—by describing what people do when pushed to their limits. This strategy of going to extremes pays off spectacularly . . . Taken together, the book's nine deep dives are a much needed reminder that an economy is not what happens when equations interact with data. An economy is what 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." —Paul Romer, winner of the 2018 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences
"We can't forecast the coming decades, but it is enlightening to look at extreme economies for clues to what we may be in store for. Davies's book is fascinating." —Robert J. Shiller, winner of the 2013 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences
"[A] worthwhile lesson, today more than ever. Much of the evidence from Davies’s book, a bottom-up look at what happens when disaster strikes, is encouraging: before long, individuals rebuild themselves and their livelihoods. Fashionable as it is to do it down, capitalism is remarkably resilient." —Ed Conway, The Times (London)
“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.” —Andy Haldane, Chief Economist at the Bank of England
"A highly original approach to understanding what really makes economies tick. Both insightful and accessible to non-economists." —Mervyn King, former Governor of the Bank of England
"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." —Will Page, Chief Economist at Spotify
"Exciting to see economics strike out into the real world showing how trauma and chaos can yield raw truths about markets, monopolies and the state." —Simon Jenkins, columnist at The Guardian and Evening Standard
"A must read for anyone feeling desperate about the state of world affairs today, Extreme Economies demonstrates with vivid clarity and humanity how those in the most challenging situations can prosper. Many economists are quite narrow in their thinking about life’s challenges, this book beautifully demonstrates why the world’s most interesting places force us to think more openly." —Lord Jim O'Neill, Chair, Chatham House
★ 01/13/2020
Davies, a former economics editor of The Economist, debuts with a well-curated, globe-spanning study of nine irregular financial systems to understand where the modern world is headed. In the book’s first section, Davies examines informal economies in Aceh, Indonesia, where tsunami survivors have transformed international aid into entrepreneurial success; the Syrian refugee camp Zaatari in northern Jordan, where smuggling fuels a thriving barter system; and the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola, where inmates have developed innovative currency markets. The second section investigates resource-rich sites—the Darien Gap bridging South and Central America, Democratic Republic of Congo capital city Kinshasa, and Glasgow, Scotland—where successful economies have either failed to develop or collapsed. The third and perhaps most compelling section examines the leading edge of societal trends including aging populations (Akita, Japan), advanced technologies (Tailin, Estonia), and extreme inequality (Santiago, Chile). In each location, Davies keeps his perspective on broad, and often disturbing, historical trends while celebrating the resourcefulness of the individuals and communities he profiles. His analysis is straightforward enough for general readers to understand, while businesspeople, economic forecasters, and policymakers will find his insights imminently applicable to their own work. This ambitious and thought-provoking guide helps to make sense of the economic future. (Jan.)
01/01/2020
While other economic prognosticators may analyze data or turn to academia for inspiration, London School of Economics fellow Davies takes a different tack. Adopting the Keynesian concept that those living at the extreme ends of the economy are the "advance guard" whose situation will reveal ideas about the future, Davies circumnavigated the globe to find the best examples of what sustains an economy in order to figure out what that may herald for us. This research takes the author from an Indonesian community devastated by a tsunami to the world's first all-digital economy to an uncharted backwater in the Panamanian jungle. Davies contemplates what makes economies survive—and fail. The author interviewed more than 500 people for his research, and their experiences help support the richly textured illustration of his principles. VERDICT Davies makes the science of economics accessible and personal by identifying trends connected to the communities and people he encountered across the globe, and by showing how their efforts and resilience hold promise for a better future. For all interested in the global economy.—Carol Elsen, Univ. of Wisconsin, Whitewater Libs.
2019-10-23
A gimlet-eyed look at developments in the global economy, in which interesting and sometimes ominous things are happening.
Former Economist editor Davies opens his account in Aceh, Indonesia, where, following the 2004 tsunami, devastation was met with surprising elasticity on the part of local entrepreneurs, such as one who "ignored advice to relocate away from the coast and instead returned quickly to his village to rebuild his life." Responding immediately to disasters is a hallmark of an agile economy, and, as other economists have noted, disaster can be a strange kind of positive externality, since it provides opportunities to rebuild with newer and better methods and materials. Glasgow conversely suffered because it was slow to rebuild following World War II, like much of Britain, leading other nations to surpass it in such things as shipbuilding and making autos. Davies examines nine places that illustrate economic choices for failure or success, from the disaster economies of a Syrian refugee camp and a Louisiana prison to a modern Japanese town whose population is rapidly aging and the capital of Estonia, a nation at the forefront of modern technology. His case studies represent challenges that include natural disaster, economic inequality, and the rise of robotics and artificial intelligence and their displacement of human workers. Lessons abound, including the remarkable fairness with which Acehnese gold traders repurposed traditional methods of finance and "provided its entrepreneurs with rapid access to cash." Contrast this with the predatory nature of the Chicago School economics visited on Chile after the military coup of 1973, with Milton Friedman et al. delighting in an experimental setting "untroubled by democracy." Chile's economy finally grew, becoming a success story, at a price: Inequality is extreme, and services such as health care are delivered only to those who can afford them. Davies concludes that a decade hence, given the trends he remarks on, most people on Earth will live in "an urban society that is old, technologically advanced and economically unequal."
Highly recommended, sobering reading for anyone interested in the economic future, for good and bad.
