RICHARD DAVIES is an economist based in London. He is a fellow at the London School of Economics, and has held senior posts in economic policymaking and journalism. He has been Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers at HM Treasury, an economist and speechwriter at the Bank of England, and economics editor of The Economist. Richard has published widely on economics. He was the editor of The Economist's recent guide to economics (Profile, 2015; CITIC 2018) and his articles have featured in The Guardian, The Sunday Times, The Times and 1843 Magazine. He is the author of numerous research papers and is a founding trustee of CORE, a charity which provides open-access resources for economics teachers and students in universities across the world.
A highly original approach to understanding what really makes economies tick. Both insightful and accessible to non-economists. * Mervyn King, former Governor of the Bank of England * We learn most about ourselves at times of extreme stress and challenge. Using nine compelling country case studies, Richard Davies brilliantly demonstrates that the same is true of our economic systems. In its approach and insights, Extreme Economies is a revelation - and a must-read. * Andy Haldane, Chief Economist at the Bank of England * Richard Davies balances economics with art, exposing the trade-offs made by people living today and forcing us to question the outcomes of our decisions. * Will Page, Chief Economist at Spotify * Extreme Economies makes sense of the forces shaping the future. Taken together, the books nine deep dives are a much needed reminder that an economy is not what happens when equations interact with data. An economy is what happens when people -- real people, people with names -- interact with people. Anyone who wants to learn economics, is learning economics, or pretends to know some economics should read this book. * Paul Romer, winner of the 2018 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences * Exciting to see economics strike out into the real world showing how trauma and chaos can yield raw truths about markets, monopolies and the state. * Simon Jenkins *