Doughnut Economics

Economics is a science that attempts to understand how best to distribute scarce resources. It has become obsolete, as it fails to predict, let alone prevent, financial crises and recessions. Its outdated theories have permitted extreme poverty on a global scale, while the wealth of the super-rich continues to grow year on year. Its blind spots have led to policies that are degrading the planet's living systems on a scale that threatens all of our futures. Can it be fixed? In Doughnut Economics, Oxford academic Kate Raworth proposes a new model for economics based on human needs rather than ideology and materialism; in doing so she explains how an obsession with equilibrium has left economists helpless when facing the boom-and-bust of the real world. She reveals how equilibrium can leave us vulnerable to financial crashes - as well as ignoring issues such as inequality. She then deconstructs the character of ‘rational economic man’ and explains what really makes us tick. On the journey she defines prosperity in terms of healthy relationships and quality of life rather than quantity of resources consumed. The book was published in April 2016 by Penguin Random House in English (translated into 27 languages), German and Chinese, with further translations underway.