I’ve been doing really well maintaining a read-everyday habit, determined to plough through my pile of un-read or part-read books. Here are my very brief thoughts on Doughnut Economics.
I read a lot, but I find long books with lots of words hard to maintain focus on – especially with non-fiction. But I wanted to read Doughnut Economics to see what it was all about.
I won’t go into detail on what the model is – I’m sure you can find a summary somewhere. But I LIKE the Doughnut model presented and I think there are some very important ideas in this book.
It was quite academic, so be prepared for that if you want to read it. This was fine, but I think a less-academic version of it would be helpful. Having said that, as I persevered I learned a LOT about economics as a discipline, and how it’s taught. It left me curious to know more.
What I don’t understand is what someone like me gains from reading it. The Doughtnut is good, but what can I do… really… what practical action can I take away to progress this idea? It feels so big and out of my control. Basically a change to the way that the whole world organises itself, in the face of a huge majority of people of influence who really don’t want that change.
So, interesting ideas. A nice summary of how economics works (or doesn’t). But I was left hanging. How do these ideas start to become reality.
It just seems too hard.