bwaber reviewed Extreme Economies by Richard Davies
An Illuminating Look Into Wildly Different, Mostly Non-Traditional Economies
4 stars
Davies provides an incredible view into a variety of different economies - prisons, disaster zones, refugee camps, and more - combining qualitative field research with quantitative analysis for a holistic picture. There's not a ton that unifies these different chapters beyond the fact that most of them will be unfamiliar to Global North readers and that they tend to be absent from most economic analyses. However these examples are insightful, demonstrating how different societal and economic models are possible and indeed necessary in many cases. The chapters about Estonia and rural Japan were frankly the least interesting, partly because they were extremely hype-driven (AI, robotics, etc.) but also because much of the claims in these chapters don't stand up to scrutiny. Still, this book is illuminating, and greatly helps one gain an understanding of economics and society. Highly recommend