A leading economist shows why current economic thinking doesn't work – and what should take its place
As seen on BBC Newsnight.
Economics is broken, and the planet is paying the price.
Unforeseen financial crises. Extreme wealth inequality. Relentless pressure on the environment. Can we go on like this? Is there an alternative?
In Doughnut Economics, Oxford academic Kate Raworth lays out the seven deadly mistakes of economics and offers a radical re-envisioning of the system that has brought us to the point of ruin. Moving beyond the myths of ‘rational economic man’ and unlimited growth, Doughnut Economics zeroes in on the sweet spot: a system that meets all our needs without exhausting the planet.
The demands of the 21st century require a new shape of economics. This might just be it.
*The Sunday Times Bestseller* *A Financial Times and Forbes Book of the Year* *Winner of the Transmission Prize 2018* *Longlisted for the FT/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
‘Raworth’s magnum opus . . . A fascinating reminder to business leaders and economists alike to stand back at a distance to examine our modern economics.’ Books of the Year, Forbes
‘There are some really important economic and political thinkers around at the moment – such as Kate Raworth’s Doughnut Economics.’ Andrew Marr, Guardian
‘An admirable attempt to broaden the horizons of economic thinking.’ Martin Wolf, Books of the Year, Financial Times ‘A compelling and timely intervention.’ Caroline Lucas MP, Books of the Year, The Ecologist
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.
Praise for Doughnut Economics
“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
“Doughnut Economics shows how to ensure dignity and prosperity for all people.”
Huffington Post
“A compelling and timely intervention.”
Caroline Lucas MP, Books of the Year, The Ecologist
“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
“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, 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
“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 innovative vision about how we could refocus away from growth to thriving.”
Daily Mail
“A brand new way of conceptualising economic development without being tied to infinite growth . . . A useful idea.”
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
“An admirable attempt to broaden the horizons of economic thinking.”
Martin Wolf, Books of the Year, Financial Times
“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
“This is sharp, significant scholarship . . . Thrilling.”
Times Higher Education
“Required summer reading for Labour politicians and activists.”
openDemocracy
“Another look at measuring growth . . . Raworth makes several key suggestions for reform.”
MoneyWeek
“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
“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
“[Reveals] the huge hold in the standard economic model . . . offers a mountaintop view of the world.”
Knowledge@Wharton: The Journal of Wharton Business School
“Judiciously combining history, theory, anecdotes and diagrams, [Raworth] provides a narrative that is easy to follow . . . Worthwhile and challenging.”
Frontline
“A radical and solidly-argued book . . . Plausible and informative.”
El Pais
“A compact synthesis of modern heterodoxy.”
Guardian
“An eminently sane and important book.”
Caught by the River
“A precious book . . . State-of-the-art, unorthodox economic thinking that calls for the redistribution of wealth and resources.”
La Repubblica
“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
“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
“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
“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
“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
“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 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
“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
“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
“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
“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
“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
“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
“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
“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.”
“This book gave me faith that there is an alternative story to tell to the neoliberal narrative.”
Marcus de Sautoy
“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
“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.
“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
“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.”
