Extreme Economies by Richard Davies

 



Extreme Economies by Richard Davies is a fascinating journey around the world to people and places which have survived despite the odds, to places which have lost their economic potential and to places which give a window into the economics of the future. The author through his travels to Aceh in Indonesia, the refugee camps of Zaatari in Jordan and to the prisons of Louisiana in the United Sates shows the potential of humans where market dynamics trump official policy when they are allowed to bloom.Through his travels to the Darien Gap in Central America, Kinshasa in the Congo and Glasgow in Scotland, the author shows us a different side of humanity where despite the past glory and the current potential these places have not been able to come out of their rut and don't seem to have a future. Finally traveling through Akita in Japan, Tallinn in Estonia and Santiago in Chile, the author shows us how the future economies might be shaped with an aging declining population or with futuristic technologies or through even greater disparities between the have's and have not's. This is a must read for the New Year!

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