Doughnut Economics: 7 Ways to Think Like a 21st-Century Economist

This sharp, insightful call for a shift in thinking from economist Raworth posits that a long-overdue intellectual revolution has finally begun. According to her, the established model of economic thought no longer satisfies economics students, who are calling out for change; the education they’re receiving is out of pace with current economic realities. To formulate a better model, Raworth reversed the way she’d previously looked at economics. Rather than relying on established truisms, she laid out long-term goals for humankind and worked to figure out how economic thinking would allow us to achieve them. The result is a diagram consisting of a series of rings around a hollow center—the titular doughnut. Raworth places a “safe and just space for humanity” in a ring between a social foundation and an ecological ceiling, leaving human deprivation and planetary degradation, respectively, in the doughnut “hole” and outside the doughnut. The plan to move forward consists of seven ideas, such as shifting the goal of economists from addressing financial to humanitarian concerns, recognizing ecology as a significant factor in economic growth, responsibly redistributing wealth, and so on. This is a highly optimistic look at the global economy, and Raworth’s energetic, layperson-friendly writing makes her concept accessible as well as intriguing.[em] (May) [/em]