Edible Economics: A Hungry Economist Explains the World

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Un libro escrito con sentido del humor, rigurosidad argumentativa, con alcances literarios y culturales interesantísimos. Este libro es fascinante porque conjuga con eficacia la gastronomía, la historia , la geografía y la economía. Permite viajar en el tiempo, por lugares diversos, conociendo detalles sabrosos de los alimentos y de ricas tradiciones culinarias, enlazando todo aquello con reflexiones convincentes sobre problemáticas económicas que repercuten en la vida cotidiana de todos los habitantes de este planeta. 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. And they are, by and large, excellent anecdotes. Chang was born in Seoul in the 1960s and came to the UK to go to university in the 80s. So his life and career have encompassed not only the explosion of British food culture (he confirms, to an audience that might have forgotten, just how ghastly and bland things used to be), but also the development of South Korea, from a poor semi-industrialised state to the global economic and cultural powerhouse it is today. This is the intro to economics we all needed 10 years ago in school and it certainly is the one we need now to make sense of all sorts of conversations in the media. Este es el cuarto libro que leo del economista coreano. Él lo califica de extraño, pero fascinante es el adjetivo que le hace mayor justicia.

To put it very bluntly, I believe that, in a capitalist economy, unless everyone understands some economics, democracy is meaningless because so many of our decisions are bound up in economic equations. There has been a lot more industrial policy than people realize. To put it more bluntly, the Silicon Valley would not have existed without US government funding for initial technologies like the computer, the internet, and GPS. All of these were funded by the Pentagon. Semiconductor research was initially funded by the US Navy.

P130: “[more re climate change] “…we need to drive less in personal vehicles….” And government has to determine better living arrangements for us- so we can walk to stores or use public transportation. This is the same egomania that underlined Stalin and Mao’s collectivization drives that killed millions.

To think of a recent example, the development of the COVID-19 vaccine was hugely funded by governments. Exact estimates differ, but according to some estimates, up to 80 percent of funding came from the government and other public sources. So there has been a lot more industrial policy around than we realize. For decades, a single free market philosophy has dominated global economics. But this is bland and unhealthy - like British food in the 1980s, when bestselling author and economist Ha-Joon Chang first arrived in the UK from South Korea. Just as eating a wide range of cuisines contributes to a more interesting and balanced diet, so too is it essential we listen to a variety of economic perspectives. You are what you eat, in the same way that you are what you know, the book seems to say. A seemingly unlikely parallel is drawn between the understanding of food and economic thinking, only to reveal itself as universal and foundational as human existence itself. At the end of the day, we are no hunter-gatherers and our economic activities and financial choices are what brings food to the table. We have a choice, therefore, both in our economic choices and our dietary selections. This book is an encouragement to choose to broaden our culinary horizons and seek a diverse economic diet. Diversity will not only make difficult concepts more palatable, but it will also surely enrich our lives. An insider’s account of the rampant misconduct within the Trump administration, including the tumult surrounding the insurrection of Jan. 6, 2021.

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He added: “When I was born in the early 1960s, South Korea was one of the poorest countries in the world and life expectancy was 53 years. I’m 59, I should be dead. Economic development has completely changed our life chances and possibilities. In the long run, things can dramatically change.” I asked if there was any country or model that he regarded as exemplar. “No one’s perfect, you have to learn different things from different countries. In terms of building productive capabilities, you should look at countries such as Germany, South Korea, even Taiwan, which has used various types of industrial policy.”

I am sure it will be a tasty treat for everyone interested not only in food or economics but in a good storytelling about how the modern world works. In Edible Economics, Chang takes an idiosyncratic approach to his two favourite subjects, food and economics. His starting point is a comparison of the evolution of economic thought and British cuisine in recent times. He describes the latter as going through a culinary revolution. A bland and unhealthy ‘monoculture’ was invigorated by the arrival of diverse new foods (pizza!), peak-time television programmes devoted to cuisine, fusion cooking and the growth of interest in culinary history. Although one could argue with this view of British food (he overlooks the roles of domestic and farmhouse kitchens in keeping it subversively vibrant, for example), the point is a fair, if familiar, one. Over the decades, as Britons’ culinary tastes have expanded from a bland diet of boiled meat and veg, the diversity of economic theories that inform UK government policy has shrunk. In Edible Economics, Ha-Joon Chang presents an easily digestible introduction to some of the more challenging, and misunderstood, economic ideas. In the chapter ‘Strawberry’, Chang explains how this labour-intensive fruit (actually not a berry) has contributed to the rise in low-wage jobs Ha-Joon Chang presents an easily digestible and occasionally mouthwatering introduction to some of the more challenging, and misunderstood, economic ideas

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I don’t believe that there’s just one kind of capitalism. There are many different kinds, and we can make institutional changes to make capitalism more humane. My food stories are a bit like the ice cream that some of your mums may have offered to ‘bribe’ you to eat your ‘greens’ – except that in this book ice cream comes first, the greens later (what a deal!)” - admits Ha-Joon Chang in the preface. But he is also right when he adds: “my economic stories are going to be rewards in themselves because I have made them tastier than the usual by making them more varied in kind and more complex in flavour”. The relationship between capitalism and freedom has been conflicted and sometimes even contradictory. That’s very different from the story of ongoing freedom that free-market economists say capitalism brings to us. Of course his conclusion says he hopes this book gives us deplorables an appreciation for the variety of economic viewpoints. This is just a cover that he can use when his real agenda is exposed. It’ll help to have Econ 101 under your belt to appreciate this book, but it makes for fine foodie entertainment.

The titles of the sections might sound rather generic or dry, but the writing is anything but. Each chapter has a recipe as a header, not in full but as a list of ingredients that go into the recipe that showcases the food item used as an example to discuss the theme of the chapter. I'm not much of a recipe enthusiast, but sometimes I wanted to know the preparation part of the recipe mentioned. I guess it's left like that, just a list, so we can experiment if we want? What people are now doing is saying that these policies are needed, especially with the big shifts that are coming to the global economy. A lot of countries are being more honest and admitting that the government has always played an important role in industrial development, so they’re now thinking they might as well do it in a more systematic way.

Chang was close to the former shadow chancellor John McDonnell (“a very smart guy”) when he was on Labour’s front bench, but he is not enthused by the party’s present leadership. “Keir Starmer is basically saying we’ll maintain the same model with a few modifications, fewer rough edges, maybe a bit more caring. He’s not proposing to reindustrialise Britain or seriously reform the financial system.” As enjoyable as the culinary mentions were, their connection to economics didn't always work. The chapters were either a hit or a miss. But that doesn't take away from how engaging the book was. Some parts of the book were fascinating because of historical context (eg. Mandated lime for English sailors to prevent scurvy) and debunking of myths (eg. Switzerland not actually being a post-industrial country). Some weren't as insightful — most probably because I was already aware of those theories and phenomena. Economic thinking - about globalisation, climate change, immigration, austerity, automation and much more - in its most digestible form Chang has made the (sometimes extremely dry and convoluted) world of economic theory much more palatable by wrapping the topics in food; a little economic pig-in-a-blanket if you will.