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516 reviews for:
Die Donut-Ökonomie: Endlich ein Wirtschaftsmodell, das den Planeten nicht zerstört
Kate Raworth
4.21 AVERAGE
516 reviews for:
Die Donut-Ökonomie: Endlich ein Wirtschaftsmodell, das den Planeten nicht zerstört
Kate Raworth
4.21 AVERAGE
The book to me is like preaching to the converted, kicking an already open door, you know what I mean. Maybe that's why I did not really find many new stuff: circular economy, systems thinking, regenerative growth, sustainability, and so on, unfortunately since I work in an NGO I am already in the spaces where these stuff are already flying around.
I expected to have a more practical explanation on how to use the visual to the non-converted. While the book in the first chapter stressed the importance of visuals in economic theories, I was thinking, oh maybe we'll get more in depth know-how on using the doughnut as visual aid. But nope, the book apparently is dedicated more on the values, thinking, philosophical background of the visual itself.
I am also hoping for more Southern/Eastern point of view, instead all I got was quotes from Western/Northern thinkers/theories/economists/whathaveyous. As a person living in a developing country I also feel a bit of a disconnect and felt the book is more targeted towards WEIRD (Western, educated, and from industrialized, rich, and democratic countries) audience. And of course, when the author made several typos about a region in my country - I could not help but feeling a bit miffed.
So....yeah, I am clearly not the target audience. But this book could be useful for a primer if you're it.
I expected to have a more practical explanation on how to use the visual to the non-converted. While the book in the first chapter stressed the importance of visuals in economic theories, I was thinking, oh maybe we'll get more in depth know-how on using the doughnut as visual aid. But nope, the book apparently is dedicated more on the values, thinking, philosophical background of the visual itself.
I am also hoping for more Southern/Eastern point of view, instead all I got was quotes from Western/Northern thinkers/theories/economists/whathaveyous. As a person living in a developing country I also feel a bit of a disconnect and felt the book is more targeted towards WEIRD (Western, educated, and from industrialized, rich, and democratic countries) audience. And of course, when the author made several typos about a region in my country - I could not help but feeling a bit miffed.
So....yeah, I am clearly not the target audience. But this book could be useful for a primer if you're it.
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Listening to this audiobook, all I could hear was a British* lady telling me what to do in order to solve problems created by her ancestors—by profession (economists), and possibly by biology—and forced upon the rest of the world, sometimes literally. She speaks a lot of having an open mind, and not just sticking to the old-school views and theories, but all of her reasoning and theorizing is within the Western framework. She does mention Ghandi (and even China), but that's just as close to Europe as she's willing to get from the East.
Unfortunately, if it took "the West" thousands of years to realize that humans are important, and that they, as opposed to matter, should be at the center of any proposed economic model, then I have no reason to listen to any of their models. I feel very sorry for them, especially the apparently well-meaning ones, such as the author of this book. It's especially sad that she speaks of decision makers (politicians), and even the IMF and the World Bank (WB) (a bunch of politician businessmen, in a sense) as if they had our well-being at heart. Perhaps it makes sense from her point of view, as a Brit; but in a poor country like Jordan, for instance, even laypeople like me know that the IMF and the WB try their best to get us in their debt. It's not about helping—at least not helping us. Not to mention that the bulk of the budgets of organizations like the UN goes to executives and managers, etc. Refugees are also used to beg for money over, most of which the refugees themselves never see. It also goes without saying that British (and now American) politicians have always done their best/worst to prevent any economic prosperity in my part of the world, and that adds more to the irritation this book caused me.
So back to economics—kind of... Putting humans first? That's not novel in my culture. Caring about the environment? Nope. Taxing wealth and not income? That's basically the Islamic "tax" system. You see, when a Westerner writes about all that, they're revolutionary and clever. When a Muslim tries to apply it in their own country, they're terrorists and tyrants. It's as if the whole world thinks we Muslims don't want justice, that we want the West and our West-backed politicians to continue stealing our money; sometimes they do explicitly say things to that effect. I truly feel sorry for them, (but not the politicians, obviously).
And when will they ever learn, I wonder? All of those crises, recessions, and depressions, and they still struggle to understand. I was once told by a European that he knew capitalism isn't great, but it's the best of the worst—that it works. Well, how does it exactly? It works for the rich, that's for sure, but not anyone else. I do understand that economics is a complex and intricate subject, and I'm very interested in it, but sometimes the solutions are very clear. Whenever there's a crisis, it's almost always caused by banks. You see, in Islam, usury—that is, interest, of any amount, charged on a loan—is prohibited. If I say that in public, I'd be accused of many things, no doubt, but it's obviously the reason for the 2008 financial crisis, and only a stubborn person will refuse to see that. Or a banker. Speaking of which, people will ask innocently, "but how will bankers make money without interest?" The answer is very simple: the job of "banker" should not exist in the first place. This book doesn't say it explicitly, but it acknowledges that banks fail to do what they claim to—safekeeping people's money. And the same applies to many jobs in finance and investment. Trying to understand things like "speculation" is reminiscent of reading Lewis Carroll, the only difference being that the latter is way more entertaining (and sensical).
* My country was under "British Mandate", meaning they tried (successfully) to keep the country behind for decades.
(Audiobook.)
Unfortunately, if it took "the West" thousands of years to realize that humans are important, and that they, as opposed to matter, should be at the center of any proposed economic model, then I have no reason to listen to any of their models. I feel very sorry for them, especially the apparently well-meaning ones, such as the author of this book. It's especially sad that she speaks of decision makers (politicians), and even the IMF and the World Bank (WB) (a bunch of politician businessmen, in a sense) as if they had our well-being at heart. Perhaps it makes sense from her point of view, as a Brit; but in a poor country like Jordan, for instance, even laypeople like me know that the IMF and the WB try their best to get us in their debt. It's not about helping—at least not helping us. Not to mention that the bulk of the budgets of organizations like the UN goes to executives and managers, etc. Refugees are also used to beg for money over, most of which the refugees themselves never see. It also goes without saying that British (and now American) politicians have always done their best/worst to prevent any economic prosperity in my part of the world, and that adds more to the irritation this book caused me.
So back to economics—kind of... Putting humans first? That's not novel in my culture. Caring about the environment? Nope. Taxing wealth and not income? That's basically the Islamic "tax" system. You see, when a Westerner writes about all that, they're revolutionary and clever. When a Muslim tries to apply it in their own country, they're terrorists and tyrants. It's as if the whole world thinks we Muslims don't want justice, that we want the West and our West-backed politicians to continue stealing our money; sometimes they do explicitly say things to that effect. I truly feel sorry for them, (but not the politicians, obviously).
And when will they ever learn, I wonder? All of those crises, recessions, and depressions, and they still struggle to understand. I was once told by a European that he knew capitalism isn't great, but it's the best of the worst—that it works. Well, how does it exactly? It works for the rich, that's for sure, but not anyone else. I do understand that economics is a complex and intricate subject, and I'm very interested in it, but sometimes the solutions are very clear. Whenever there's a crisis, it's almost always caused by banks. You see, in Islam, usury—that is, interest, of any amount, charged on a loan—is prohibited. If I say that in public, I'd be accused of many things, no doubt, but it's obviously the reason for the 2008 financial crisis, and only a stubborn person will refuse to see that. Or a banker. Speaking of which, people will ask innocently, "but how will bankers make money without interest?" The answer is very simple: the job of "banker" should not exist in the first place. This book doesn't say it explicitly, but it acknowledges that banks fail to do what they claim to—safekeeping people's money. And the same applies to many jobs in finance and investment. Trying to understand things like "speculation" is reminiscent of reading Lewis Carroll, the only difference being that the latter is way more entertaining (and sensical).
(Audiobook.)
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
10 years ago I would have not thought I'd be reading books on Economics and enjoying it. However.
This is an accessible, well defined and articulate recipe to make change happen
“ Contrary to the founding theories of of development economics, inequality does not make economies grow faster: if anything, it slows them down. And it does so by wasting the potential of much of the population: people who could be school teachers or market traders, nurses or micro-entrepreneurs— actively contributing to the wealth and well-being of their community— instead have to spend their time desperately trying to meet their families basic daily needs.”
“With great irony, the intensive overuse and abuse of intellectual property law today is widely acknowledged to be stifling the very innovation that it was originally created to promote.”
“ The widely recommended shifting from taxing labour to taxing resource use would simultaneously draw human ingenuity away from making more stuff with fewer people towards repairing and making more things with less stuff, while employing more people too.”
This is an accessible, well defined and articulate recipe to make change happen
“ Contrary to the founding theories of of development economics, inequality does not make economies grow faster: if anything, it slows them down. And it does so by wasting the potential of much of the population: people who could be school teachers or market traders, nurses or micro-entrepreneurs— actively contributing to the wealth and well-being of their community— instead have to spend their time desperately trying to meet their families basic daily needs.”
“With great irony, the intensive overuse and abuse of intellectual property law today is widely acknowledged to be stifling the very innovation that it was originally created to promote.”
“ The widely recommended shifting from taxing labour to taxing resource use would simultaneously draw human ingenuity away from making more stuff with fewer people towards repairing and making more things with less stuff, while employing more people too.”
Despite its rather small size, this reads a bit like a very dense textbook, so I wouldn't recommend reading it all at once. Take lots of breaks. However, I do love Kate Raworth's doughnut framework and think it's an interesting way to visualize the intersection of social and environmental justice.
Spectacular. Wish I'd've read this sooner ... a truly unique view of future possibilities moving toward thriving for all in a regenerative, circular economy. Utopian? Probably today, but we'll get there eventually because we HAVE to.
Review at https://stuff.graves.cl/posts/2024-01-14_16_51-book-review-doughtnut-economy-by-kate-raworth
I am only on page 15 and have highlighted several of the footnote references. I used one reference in an online comment about the importance of visualising what we are learning about. Our current economic model is based on short term goals instead of long term human ambitions. This is a principle motive for shifting our perspective.
slow-paced