Recently, a group of high-profile economists wrote a piece for The Guardian about how growth is a doomed strategy .
The piece took a holistic look at global poverty, inequality, living wages, extraction of resources, debt servicing, Indigenous struggles and climate justice.
Such real-world issues are usually sidelined in introductory economics classes, which are typically concerned with building technical competencies - as I have written before, a problem that has been spotlighted partly through student advocacy inspired by the Occupy Wall Street movement and the need to address climate change.
Concern about the viability of ongoing economic growth and about connecting the discipline of economics to real-world issues offers a chance to spotlight accessible reading about fairer economies.
Accessible, interdisciplinary reads
Books like Freakonomics or The Undercover Economist series were significant for making leisure reading about economics more popular, and for showing how traditional economic theory has relevance through everyday examples.
These types of books appeal to the contrarian in many of us. It's fascinating to learn how financial incentives backfire - as in British India, when the British placed a bounty on cobras to cull their population in Delhi, people started farming cobras for the reward and the pest population increased.
As an economist, I want my students learning to include an awareness of the effects of systems of oppression, like inequality and racism , and what it could mean to decolonize economic thinking . I also hope they'll engage in deep and wide reading, and experience lifelong learning.
To this end, I recommend books to my students , and my recommendations go beyond the academic discipline of economics to incorporate interdisciplinary perspectives.
Here are seven accessible reads:
Economism : Former law professor James Kwak is not alone in his indictment of economics introductory textbooks.
"Economism" refers to the belief that the simplistic demand-supply graph provides answers to all problems. This approach teaches students that any interference with the market causes inefficiency. The graph-based analysis of minimum wage , rent control , taxes or tariffs is overly simplistic.
Kwak argues that economism is not recognized as an ideology that hides behind nifty graphs and mathematics but one that supports the interests of the rich over ordinary citizens.
Licence to be Bad : Economist Jonathan Aldred shows how various economic concepts impact us. For example, the idea of "free riding" (sometimes taught through "the prisoner's dilemma ") teaches us that it's irrational to co-operate. He examines how economics as a field has given precedence to self-interest over motives of justice, fairness, duty and solidarity.
Aldred shows that financial incentives undermine our sense of duty and corrupt us. He illustrates this with the movie Indecent Proposal, where a billionaire offers a married couple a million dollars for one night with the wife. He cites other examples in which financial incentives decreased blood donations, and children started picking shorter, easier books when offered financial rewards to read.
The Tyranny of Merit : Philosophy professor Michael Sandel questions the idea that we deserve our earnings, arguing that people often exaggerate their own personal role in achieving their success. This goes against the problematic economic principle that assumes our earnings are based on our contribution.
Sandel argues that this instigates hubris in winners and humiliation and resentment in losers. This is what he means by the "tyranny of merit." He blames this "tyranny" for the rise of right-wing populism and United States President Donald Trump. He also argues we are more likely to express solidarity with our fellow citizens if we believe that our talents are gifts to be shared.
The Divide : Political economist Jason Hickel grew up in the Global South in Eswatini. He argues that poor countries are not poor because of "backwards" cultural values but because of an exploitative global system.
Advanced economies extract resources from developing countries and keep them subjugated through debt-servicing payments. More is extracted from poor countries than is given to them in foreign aid. He argues for cancelling debts taken by Global South dictators and elites without the consent of their people.
Less is More : While proponents of green growth support growth based on renewable resources, Hickel supports "degrowth" - an idea based on the view that there is no technological fix for the ecological crisis, and he equates constant growth for more profits with cancer.
He supports redistribution of income and wealth and expansion of universal health care, affordable housing and education in a post-growth economy. He writes that advanced economies are responsible for 92 per cent of emissions, but poor countries face the greatest brunt of climate change. He argues for climate justice reparations from the rich to the poor countries.
Indigenomics : Carol Anne Hilton is of Nuu-chah-nulth descent from the Hesquiaht Nation and CEO of the Indigenomics Institute. This book was shortlisted for the Donner Prize in 2021 .
Hilton distinguishes between mainstream economic and Indigenous worldviews. The former focuses on amassing wealth, status and competition, while the Indigenous view emphasizes community, giving and co-operation. Instead of seeing land as a resource to be exploited, the Indigenous view emphasizes taking only what is needed.
She dismantles the racist narrative that Indigenous people are a "fiscal burden," citing the exploitation of Indigenous resources and the colonial imposition of the reserve system. She argues economic reconciliation should produce well-being for Indigenous people through access to capital, resources and opportunities. Above all, consent from Indigenous people is paramount for economic development projects, as they uphold their responsibility to the land.
Moloo Musalli : Author Muhammad Amjad Saqib is the founder of a large microfinance organization in Pakistan. The book title refers to a pejorative epithet for oppressed people in the Punjab province of Pakistan.
Through individuals' stories, he highlights systems of oppression like compound interest rates that trap indebted labourers in bondage in what has been called a form of modern-day slavery.
He argues change does not arrive with charity but upward mobility, and he draws on the Islamic teaching that the wealthy do not confer any favour to the poor but are obligated to fulfil their rights.
Instead of looking towards development economists and highly paid consultants, he argues for learning from the poor.
Overall, through such books, I question assumptions about economic concepts, address populism , inequality and climate change , and broach issues of extraction and exploitation.
In a time of social media distractions, when some academics worry that students can't read , I find a glimmer of hope when students connect passionately with a book.
Junaid B. Jahangir does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
