Edible Economics: A Hungry Economist Explains the World

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Since I by far prefer to read about food than economics, it was the title and the cover which encouraged me to pick up this book, rather than the author's (impressive) credentials. En cada uno de sus libros, los mitos económicos ultraliberales quedan al descubierto, demostrado su falta de evidencia real e histórica. Some weren't as insightful — most probably because I was already aware of those theories and phenomena.

This is effectively a collection of blog posts in which a single type of food is extraordinarily loosely tied to a vague topic in economics. But if you're already in the field, read it for the interesting stories on ingredients and gastronomy. Ha-Joon Chang offers some unique perspectives on various economic theories, often presenting multiple differing opinions in the same chapter. Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to review Edible Economics in exchange for an honest review.

Ha-Joon Chang is a Professor Economics at SOAS University of London, and is one of the world’s leading economists. It's rather a compilation of personal anecdotes, food history tidbits, and a critique of economic theories to explain the world we live in. There's no ethnic food I won't try, to the point those that know me ask me half-teasingly and half-seriously, "Just what don't you like? It reminded me a bit of A History of the World in 6 Glasses in style and aims, though with a different focus as Standage's is history and Chang's is economy. 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).

Often, it goes a bit off-tangent from the beginning of chapters and you end up in an entirely different plane. I'm usually a slow reader, but I managed to finish this in just two sittings, not only because it's under 200 pages but also because I was curious to know what strawberries had to do with automation and how okra was affected by colonisation and slavery. Chang does say upfront that this is what he’s going to do – that this isn’t a book about the economics of food per se, but a restatement of his core arguments, with culinary anecdotes functioning as treats to keep the reader interested. The author also likes referring back to other chapters in the book which I thought was unnecessary and slightly chaotic.El autor es un economista partidario de un capitalismo regulado y sustentable, pero un gran detractor de las premisas neoliberales que han sido dominantes en las últimas décadas.

I might be past the point in my economics education where beginner-level books aimed at introducing economics to general readers fail to excite me, but this was such a fresh style and take on the subject.

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”. Now I’m off to read some additional reviews to see what others thought about this one, because I’m not entirely sure what to think. Edible Economics is a moveable feast of alternative economic ideas wrapped up in witty stories about food from around the world.