Doughnut Economics

Doughnut Economics

Seven Ways to Think Like a 21st-Century Economist

Summary

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Economics is broken. It has failed to predict, let alone prevent, financial crises that have shaken the foundations of our societies. Its outdated theories have permitted a world in which extreme poverty persists while the wealth of the super-rich grows year on year. And its blind spots have led to policies that are degrading the living world on a scale that threatens all of our futures.

Can it be fixed? In Doughnut Economics, Oxford academic Kate Raworth identifies seven critical ways in which mainstream economics has led us astray, and sets out a roadmap for bringing humanity into a sweet spot that meets the needs of all within the means of the planet. En route, she deconstructs the character of ‘rational economic man’ and explains what really makes us tick. She reveals how an obsession with equilibrium has left economists helpless when facing the boom and bust of the real-world economy. She highlights the dangers of ignoring the role of energy and nature’s resources – and the far-reaching implications for economic growth when we take them into account. And in the process, she creates a new, cutting-edge economic model that is fit for the 21st century – one in which a doughnut-shaped compass points the way to human progress.

Ambitious, radical and rigorously argued, Doughnut Economics promises to reframe and redraw the future of economics for a new generation.

Includes a supplementary PDF of graphs and diagrams.

The Sunday Times bestseller

Longlisted for the Financial Times & McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award 2017

‘The John Maynard Keynes of the 21st century.’ George Monbiot, Guardian

‘This is sharp, significant scholarship . . . Thrilling.’ Times Higher Education

‘A really important economic and political thinker.’ Andrew Marr

‘An innovative vision about how we could refocus away from growth to thriving.’ Daily Mail

‘An admirable attempt to broaden the horizons of economic thinking.’ Martin Wolf, Financial Times

Reviews

  • I’ve never seen [the concepts in Doughnut Economics] laid out so clearly, compellingly, or cheekily. Social entrepreneurs, it’s doughnut time – and I strongly recommend that you take a bite.
    Four Books Every Social Entrepreneur Should Read, Forbes

About the author

Kate Raworth

Kate Raworth is an economist whose research focuses on the unique social and ecological challenges of the 21st century. She is a Senior Visiting Research Associate teaching at Oxford University’s Environmental Change Institute, and a Senior Associate of the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership.

Over the last two decades Kate has worked as Senior Researcher at Oxfam, as a co-author of the UN’s Human Development Report at the United Nations Development Programme, and as a Fellow of the Overseas Development Institute in the villages of Zanzibar.

She has been named by the Guardian as one of the top ten tweeters on economic transformation.
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