Doughnut Economics

I read this book with the excitement that the people of his day must have read John Maynard Keynes’s General Theory. It is brilliant, thrilling and revolutionary. Drawing on a deep well of learning, wisdom and deep thinking, Kate Raworth has comprehensively reframed and redrawn economics. It is entirely accessible, even for people with no knowledge of the subject. I believe that Doughnut Economics will change the world.

George Monbiot, author and Guardian columnist

What if it were possible to live well without trashing the planet? Doughnut Economics succinctly captures this tantalising possibility and takes up its challenge. Brimming with creativity, Raworth reclaims economics from the dust of academia and puts it to the service of a better world.

Tim Jackson, author of PROSPERITY WITHOUT GROWTH

Can anyone seriously suppose that today’s economic orthodoxies are going to bring the world back from the brink of chaos? We need to fundamentally rethink the way we create and distribute wealth, and Kate Raworth’s Doughnut Economics provides an inspiring primer as to how we must now set about that challenge. I hope it ushers in a period of intense debate about the kind of economy we now so urgently need.

Jonathan Porritt, author of THE WORLD WE MADE; founding director of Forum for the Future

This is truly the book we've all been waiting for. Kate Raworth provides the antidote to neoliberal economics with her radical and ambitious vision of an economy in service to life. Given the current state of the world, we need Doughnut Economics now more than ever.

L. Hunter Lovins, president and founder of Natural Capitalism Solutions

A book you will need to know about . . . Kate writes beautifully . . . If only 10% of the ideas get implemented, the world will be a much better place.

World Bank blog

At last – an economic model that won't destroy the planet . . . I see [Raworth] as the John Maynard Keynes of the 21st Century: by reframing the economy, she allows us to change our view of who we are, where we stand, and what we want to be.

George Monbiot, Guardian

There are some really important economic and political thinkers around at the moment – such as Kate Raworth's Doughnut Economics . . . I get the sense that a major period of new thinking and political creativity is coming.

Andrew Marr, Guardian

A compelling and timely intervention.

Caroline Lucas MP, Books of the Year, The Ecologist

Finding a healthy alternative to the prevailing growth model that has strained the planet to bursting is the holy grail of environmental economics. And it looks like maybe we’ve found it . . . It’s hard to understate how exciting this revelation is

Inhabitat

An innovative vision about how we could refocus away from growth to thriving.

Daily Mail

This is sharp, significant scholarship . . . Thrilling.

Times Higher Education

Doughnut Economics shows how to ensure dignity and prosperity for all people.

Huffington Post

A sharp, insightful call for a shift in thinking . . . Raworth’s energetic, layperson-friendly writing makes her concept accessible as well as intriguing.

Publishers Weekly

Kate Raworth makes a powerful argument to look beyond economic growth alone for a true measure of prosperity and progress . . . The doughnut offers a vision for an equitable and sustainable future.

Intelligent HQ

A compact synthesis of modern heterodoxy.

Guardian

Proposes a new economic model – one that embeds the human economy within the natural world and within society, rather than being distinct from either.

The Ecologist

An admirable attempt to broaden the horizons of economic thinking.

Martin Wolf, Books of the Year, Financial Times

An eminently sane and important book.

Caught by the River

Another look at measuring growth . . . Raworth makes several key suggestions for reform.

MoneyWeek

Judiciously combining history, theory, anecdotes and diagrams, [Raworth] provides a narrative that is easy to follow . . . Worthwhile and challenging.

Frontline

A brand new way of conceptualising economic development without being tied to infinite growth . . . A useful idea.

Guardian

Considers the shape of a doughnut as a guide to understanding how a modern, globalized economic system is interconnected but can serve people fairly and lead to happier, more fulfilled humans.

Inverse

Kate Raworth's well-received Doughnut Economics makes clear . . . [that] we have to enter a new age of thought, of communication, of politics.

Natalie Bennett, The Ecologist

Asks some simple and pertinent questions. Why do we tax employment, through payroll taxes, but not the use of such scarce resources as fresh water, the Earth’s minerals, wood and soil? [Raworth's] biggest question, however, is one that terrifies all mainstream economists: is ‘growth’ endless?

Andrew Marr, Spectator

Kate Raworth, formerly of Oxfam, shows that the undulations of equality and justice are really very profound . . . [Her] aim is to adjust human use of the processes of planetary dynamics so that the overall outcome of development is survival in peace, health, prosperity and companionship.

British Academy Review

Doughnut Economics is an important contribution to economic thought. It is so rich in detail and so full of insights that it is hard to believe it has been written by a single individual. It is the one book that deserves to be read by all our policy makers.

Business Line

We need different ways to enable us to achieve deep ecological, social, economic and cultural sustainability . . . [Doughnut Economics offers] a concept for how we can bring about such transformative change, and fast.

Newsroom

[Reveals] the huge hold in the standard economic model . . . offers a mountaintop view of the world.

Knowledge@Wharton: The Journal of Wharton Business School

Kate Raworth, in Doughnut Economics, makes the case for a new economic model that pays more attention to human and environmental pressures.

Andrew Hill, FT/McKinsey Business Book Award Longlist, Financial Times

Required summer reading for Labour politicians and activists.

openDemocracy

A precious book . . . State-of-the-art, unorthodox economic thinking that calls for the redistribution of wealth and resources.

La Repubblica

A radical and solidly-argued book . . . Plausible and informative.

El Pais

A radical viewpoint . . . [Raworth's] approach centres economics on action

The Hindu

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

Written in a clear and engaging style, Kate Raworth explains to the general public and students what is wrong with the standard curriculum in economics, and how to break out of that monopolised mental prison . . . [Doughnut Economics is] a cause for celebration . . . I highly recommend this book.

Professor Herman Daly, Ecological Economics Journal

A refreshing take on the ecology of modern economics . . . This book serves as a fascinating reminder to business leaders and economists alike to stand back at a distance to examine our modern economics.

Best Business Books of 2017, Forbes

An illuminating book . . . reminds us that in the 21st century global networks are doing what economists and policymakers should be doing but are not.

Japan Times

Doughnut Economics presents a genuine case for a global reform and a rebalancing of resources. The book is a game-changer.

Hong Kong Review of Books

Raworth’s groundbreaking book hand-picks the best emergent ideas – ranging from ecological, behavioural and institutional economics to complexity thinking, and Earth-systems science – to reveal the insights of eclectic economic re-thinkers . . . Revolutionary.

Judges' Statement, The Transmission Prize 2018

In Doughnut Economics Raworth takes on the enormous task of sketching out a new approach to the economy in 290 pages . . . A dizzying whirl through the 300 years of economic theory, and challenges to their fundamental principles

City A.M.

This book gave me faith that there is an alternative story to tell to the neoliberal narrative.

Marcus de Sautoy

One of last year's most important books on (fixing) economics

Best Books on Innovation, Nesta

A good starting point for a much needed debate about economic policy priorities.

Reuters BreakingViews

I am loving Kate Raworth’s book Doughnut Economics. It puts inequality in a far broader context, connecting a great many 21st century problems with a single vision. Every business leader and every policy maker should read it.

Tim O’Reilly

Highly informed and intelligent.

Socialist Review

[Raworth’s] business-friendly 2017 book Doughnut Economics advocated meeting the needs of all within the means of the planet.

1000 Most Influential Londoners, Evening Standard

Powerful and radical

Building.co.uk

It's an absolute must-read about the circular economy and an economic model beyond capitalism.

Sam Galsworthy, co-founder of Sipsmith, The Grocer

Excellent

Ben Cooke, The Times

It’s the first book about the future economy that I can’t put down!

Frances Morris, ELLE Decoration

A fascinating look at future economic policy

U2’s The Edge, Daily Telegraph

Kate is not the first person to try to reconcile economic growth with our world's finite resources . . . but her book makes a complex thesis accessible.

George Alagiah, New Statesman

One of the best books I have read in the last year or two was Doughnut Economics by Kate Raworth, an economist. She puts economics into the framework of society and the environment, rather than at the top. I recommend it to all.

Lord Greaves

In Doughnut Economics, Kate Raworth's economics serve life - not the endless growth of late capitalism. Compellingly, she invites us to see the economy as an organism rather than a mechanism. By referring to our knowledge of natural systems instead of the machine models of Newtonian mechanics, she offers us a way to reimagine money in order to regenerate rather than degenerate. In this wonderful, readable book, Raworth completely rewrites the textbooks of economic theory in language that is lucid and inspirational: a must read!

Antony Gormley

Raworth radically redraws the system, putting people's needs at its heart . . . with growth bound by an ecological ceiling, the outer edge of the circle, beyond which there is climate change, freshwater stress and biodiversity loss. The doughnut is the safe space where there can be sustainable development.

Conde Nast Traveller

An accessible, relatable account that relays academic thinking back to everyday lives and communities.

Best Books on Climate Change, Independent