Publisher's Weekly Review
Davies, a former economics editor of The Economist, debuts with a well-curated, globe-spanning study of nine irregular financial systems to understand where the modern world is headed. In the book's first section, Davies examines informal economies in Aceh, Indonesia, where tsunami survivors have transformed international aid into entrepreneurial success; the Syrian refugee camp Zaatari in northern Jordan, where smuggling fuels a thriving barter system; and the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola, where inmates have developed innovative currency markets. The second section investigates resource-rich sites--the Darien Gap bridging South and Central America, Democratic Republic of Congo capital city Kinshasa, and Glasgow, Scotland--where successful economies have either failed to develop or collapsed. The third and perhaps most compelling section examines the leading edge of societal trends including aging populations (Akita, Japan), advanced technologies (Tailin, Estonia), and extreme inequality (Santiago, Chile). In each location, Davies keeps his perspective on broad, and often disturbing, historical trends while celebrating the resourcefulness of the individuals and communities he profiles. His analysis is straightforward enough for general readers to understand, while businesspeople, economic forecasters, and policymakers will find his insights imminently applicable to their own work. This ambitious and thought-provoking guide helps to make sense of the economic future. (Jan.)
Kirkus Review
A gimlet-eyed look at developments in the global economy, in which interesting and sometimes ominous things are happening.Former Economist editor Davies opens his account in Aceh, Indonesia, where, following the 2004 tsunami, devastation was met with surprising elasticity on the part of local entrepreneurs, such as one who "ignored advice to relocate away from the coast and instead returned quickly to his village to rebuild his life." Responding immediately to disasters is a hallmark of an agile economy, and, as other economists have noted, disaster can be a strange kind of positive externality, since it provides opportunities to rebuild with newer and better methods and materials. Glasgow conversely suffered because it was slow to rebuild following World War II, like much of Britain, leading other nations to surpass it in such things as shipbuilding and making autos. Davies examines nine places that illustrate economic choices for failure or success, from the disaster economies of a Syrian refugee camp and a Louisiana prison to a modern Japanese town whose population is rapidly aging and the capital of Estonia, a nation at the forefront of modern technology. His case studies represent challenges that include natural disaster, economic inequality, and the rise of robotics and artificial intelligence and their displacement of human workers. Lessons abound, including the remarkable fairness with which Acehnese gold traders repurposed traditional methods of finance and "provided its entrepreneurs with rapid access to cash." Contrast this with the predatory nature of the Chicago School economics visited on Chile after the military coup of 1973, with Milton Friedman et al. delighting in an experimental setting "untroubled by democracy." Chile's economy finally grew, becoming a success story, at a price: Inequality is extreme, and services such as health care are delivered only to those who can afford them. Davies concludes that a decade hence, given the trends he remarks on, most people on Earth will live in "an urban society that is old, technologically advanced and economically unequal."Highly recommended, sobering reading for anyone interested in the economic future, for good and bad. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Library Journal Review
While other economic prognosticators may analyze data or turn to academia for inspiration, London School of Economics fellow Davies takes a different tack. Adopting the Keynesian concept that those living at the extreme ends of the economy are the "advance guard" whose situation will reveal ideas about the future, Davies circumnavigated the globe to find the best examples of what sustains an economy in order to figure out what that may herald for us. This research takes the author from an Indonesian community devastated by a tsunami to the world's first all-digital economy to an uncharted backwater in the Panamanian jungle. Davies contemplates what makes economies survive--and fail. The author interviewed more than 500 people for his research, and their experiences help support the richly textured illustration of his principles. VERDICT Davies makes the science of economics accessible and personal by identifying trends connected to the communities and people he encountered across the globe, and by showing how their efforts and resilience hold promise for a better future. For all interested in the global economy.--Carol Elsen, Univ. of Wisconsin, Whitewater Libs.
