For decades, a single free market philosophy has dominated global economics. But this is bland and unhealthy - like British food in the 1980s, when bestselling author and economist Ha-Joon Chang first arrived in the UK from South Korea. Just as eating a wide range of cuisines contributes to a more interesting and balanced diet, so too is it essential we listen to a variety of economic perspectives.

He added: “When I was born in the early 1960s, South Korea was one of the poorest countries in the world and life expectancy was 53 years. I’m 59, I should be dead. Economic development has completely changed our life chances and possibilities. In the long run, things can dramatically change.” Este libro es fascinante porque conjuga con eficacia la gastronomía, la historia , la geografía y la economía. Permite viajar en el tiempo, por lugares diversos, conociendo detalles sabrosos de los alimentos y de ricas tradiciones culinarias, enlazando todo aquello con reflexiones convincentes sobre problemáticas económicas que repercuten en la vida cotidiana de todos los habitantes de este planeta. An insider’s account of the rampant misconduct within the Trump administration, including the tumult surrounding the insurrection of Jan. 6, 2021.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 Of course his conclusion says he hopes this book gives us deplorables an appreciation for the variety of economic viewpoints. This is just a cover that he can use when his real agenda is exposed. One illustration comes from my own experience of the changes in British food culture. In 1986, I moved from my native South Korea to Britain, to do my graduate studies. At the time, food in Britain was awful—everything was overcooked and bland. People were afraid of new things. They refused to eat “foreign food.” “A diverse food culture, based on an open mind to new things and experimentation, is what makes our culinary life interesting and healthy.”

I would be lying if I said I didn't have passion for food. So when I saw this unusual premise of explaining economics through what we eat, I had to read it. My food stories are a bit like the ice cream that some of your mums may have offered to ‘bribe’ you to eat your ‘greens’ – except that in this book ice cream comes first, the greens later (what a deal!)” - admits Ha-Joon Chang in the preface. But he is also right when he adds: “my economic stories are going to be rewards in themselves because I have made them tastier than the usual by making them more varied in kind and more complex in flavour”. El autor es un economista partidario de un capitalismo regulado y sustentable, pero un gran detractor de las premisas neoliberales que han sido dominantes en las últimas décadas. En cada uno de sus libros, los mitos económicos ultraliberales quedan al descubierto, demostrado su falta de evidencia real e histórica.To put it very bluntly, I believe that, in a capitalist economy, unless everyone understands some economics, democracy is meaningless because so many of our decisions are bound up in economic equations. Edible Economics brings the sort of creative fusion that spices up a great kitchen to the often too-disciplined subject of economics Each chapter of my book is named after a food item (coconut, okra, chocolate, garlic, chili, you name it) and starts with some stories about that food item. But before you know it, the food stories are transformed into economic stories through what I call The Simpsons approach to writing.

The titles of the sections might sound rather generic or dry, but the writing is anything but. Each chapter has a recipe as a header, not in full but as a list of ingredients that go into the recipe that showcases the food item used as an example to discuss the theme of the chapter. I'm not much of a recipe enthusiast, but sometimes I wanted to know the preparation part of the recipe mentioned. I guess it's left like that, just a list, so we can experiment if we want? 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 If austerity did not lead to a more just society, it also did not lead to a more prosperous economy. Since the 2007-08 crash, the UK economy has expanded at an average annual rate of just 0.9 per cent (compared with 2.7 per cent before the crisis). Of the G7 countries only Italy has fared worse. P 130: “ [re climate change, the government decides what you eat] “…changing our eating habits can have a big impact….I am not suggesting that we should totally give up on food variety, but those who live in rich countries should reduce their expectations for ‘on demand’ food.” This is particularly obnoxious because the author recounts throughout the book his international diet. For decades, a single, free-market philosophy has dominated global economics. But this intellectual monoculture is bland and unhealthy.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. Economic thinking - about globalisation, climate change, immigration, austerity, automation and much more - in its most digestible form