Edible Economics: A Hungry Economist Explains the World

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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). Ideal para los interesados en economía y gastronomía, dos grandes pasiones del autor, como lo deja claramente demostrado. The recipes are not likely to give Yotam Ottolenghi much cause for concern – an example is the one for monkfish in curried clam broth, which just says “monkfish, served in a curried clam broth”. The only book I've ever read that made me laugh, salivate and re-evaluate my thoughts about economics – all at the same time. Chang’s preferred growth model, once unorthodox, is close to being an “anti-Washington” consensus these days, and like all such consensuses, has weaknesses.

I do appreciate the author’s evident extended effort to present ideas and concepts fairly, particularly multiple discussions of different versions and perspectives of the same theories, but the overarching author’s voice and bias is still ever-present. Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to review Edible Economics in exchange for an honest review.

Most seriously, there’s little engagement with the idea that economic growth itself might be the problem, and that curbing climate change isn’t just a matter of finding the right investment incentives. In ‘Edible Economics’, Chang makes challenging economic ideas more palatable by plating them alongside stories about food from around the world. In my opinion, this book lacks depth - a facet which especially hurts the obvious agenda-driven nature of the writing. Photograph: AsiaDreamPhoto/Alamy View image in fullscreen ‘In chapters with titles such as Noodle and Banana, Ha-Joon Chang sketches out the story of his home country’s rise.

Edible Economics was honest, occasionally flawed and surface-level, but ultimately incredibly digestible and often delicious. The author is from South Korea and there is a lot of Asian influence in the food discussion and background, but it adds to the depth of the book. Ha-Joon Chang has been working hard at providing an alternative to neoliberalism for two decades now, ever since his book Kicking Away the Ladder pointed out that low taxes, free trade and deregulation simply wasn’t the way that most rich countries had developed. It's rather a compilation of personal anecdotes, food history tidbits, and a critique of economic theories to explain the world we live in.

So do bear in mind that the book is meant for the general public, the lay public, and not for specialists in economy or history, and that a lot of the things asserted here are the author's opinions and experiences, and tastes in food, which are always personal.

I learned a good deal from each chapter and the author manages to entwine complicated concepts with charming stories and various facts. There are a few awkward transitions and pacing issues but nothing severe enough to overcome the good. But if you're already in the field, read it for the interesting stories on ingredients and gastronomy. His descriptions of the wheres and hows of the food items serve as a springboard for his explanations about the economics and both are equally entertaining. The author has an uncanny ability to connect very different topics into one coherent tale - say, pasta and automobile industry, or anchovy, guano and fertilizers.

So overall, I did enjoy the book, but think the execution was a bit more chaotic than it needed to be. Korea również dokonała ogromnego skoku gospodarczego stąd wnioskuję, że ilość odniesień autora do swojej ojczyzny jest podyktowana tym samym motywem. As Chang points out, the fact of the matter is that places such as Korea developed because of sustained investment.