The five best books about the economy written in 2023

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It’s been another bumper year for books on the economy, and there have been some fantastic titles this year. We select our top five and announce the Scotonomics Economics Book of 2023.

Value(s) by Mark Carney

Value(s) was a surprise. After all, Mark Carney was appointed by George Osborne, who Russell Jones described as David Cameron's "pet sadist" in his book A Decade in Tory.

Carney understands that institutions matter. Infrastructure like our NHS or the rule of law ensures that our currency matters to us and those we want to trade with.

After all, a bar of gold can't buy you elder care if there is no one available, and if someone hits you over the head with one, you will probably seek justice. Value(s) does what it says on the tin; you will ponder what value is and where it resides.

Key quote: "Gold lies pointlessly in our vaults, a vestige of a bygone era when it backed the value of money - a link that became a cross, inspiring booms before triggering busts. Financial markets value gold for its perceived safety not for its revealed beauty. The gold price surges with fears of financial distress or geopolitical conflict. At such times of turbulence, faith in a commodity replaces trust in institutions."

The Capital Order by Clara Mattei

The subtitle to the book is: “How Economists Invented Austerity and Paved The Way To Fascism”, and is is an exceptionally timely reminder of the potentially catastrophic impact of austerity in powering the far right and economists' roles in justifying unnecessary political choices.

Clara Mattei is an associate professor of economics at The New School for Social Research in New York. The Capital Order focuses on austerity politics in Italy (where Clara was born) and in the UK, where Clara argues austerity was invented.

This book is an exceptionally well-researched and colourful history owing to many late nights in the Bank of England’s dusty archives. Clara uses a Marxist perspective to illuminate how economists and politicians have used austerity to stave off the inevitable fall of capitalism.

Key quote: “Despite the repeated economic crisis, economists are still relied upon to decide the solution when a new crisis emerges, and their solutions continue to require that workers absorb the lion’s share of hardship through lower wages, longer workdays and welfare cuts”

Watch our interview with Clara earlier this year. Clara is also speaking at our Festival of Economics in March.

The Tyranny of Nostalgia by Russell Jones

Attracted, once again, by the subtitle: “Half a Century of British Economic Decline,” this book provides a forensic look at the decisions and decision-makers that shaped the UK economy since the 1950s.

Russell is a much-travelled economist, having worked in the UK, Japan, the Middle East and Asia, mainly working for large international banks. He is also a co-founder of the policy reform group think tank. So far, so orthodox.

And there is certainly a mainstream economic outlook throughout the book. Russell is, refreshingly, happy to be pulled slightly off the Orthodox course. He compliments John Maynard Keynes and agrees with Keynes that managing the economy really means dealing with uncertainty rather than the more mainstream view that it is all about managing risk.

How an economist can cover the post-50s UK economic decline and barely mention the collapse of the British Empire is beyond me, but this doesn’t detract from a very thoughtful analysis and a brilliant chronological economic post-mortem of the UK economy.

Key quote: “Too much conceptual inertia and hankering after the glories of the past can cast a long and ruinous shadow”

We will interview Russell in an upcoming episode of our podcast in 2024. We have much to chat about it!

Cannibal Capitalism by Nancy Fraser

Nancy is a colleague of Clara Mattei at the New School in New York and takes a similar Marxist view of the economy. Nancy adds a fascinating real-world perspective by adding a feminist economic lens.

It is a relatively short book: An almost manifesto length of 160 pages that will allow you to devour it as easily as the Ouroboros, which adorns the front cover, eats its tail. Nancy explains why capitalism is a better definition for society than an economy. The book details capitalism’s rapacious racist nature in cannibalising care, democracy and our ecological support systems.

Key quote: “Peasantries were looted and their communities wrecked to supply the cheap food, textiles, mineral ore and energy, without which the exploitation of metropolitan industrial workers would not have been possible."

Nancy joins us for an interview in February 2024.

And the winner of Scotonomics Economics Book of 2023 ....

Carbon Democracy by Timothy Mitchell

For those interested in how fossil fuels have shaped our economy and society, this is a fast-paced and information-rich book. In his preface, Mitchell says: "Historically, Europe and North America, the first regions to industrialise, have produced half of the cumulative greenhouse gas emissions."

Let that sink in and join the canon of your knowledge when you confront those who go down the slippery discussion road of China whataboutery.

Moreover, Mitchell reminds us that life was different before the 1960s economic boom and that oil, and our dependency upon it, has, in fact, decreased the efficacy of democracies after coal workers went to quite a lot of trouble to increase it.

Key quote: “In battles over the shape of future energy systems, the possibilities for democracy are at stake.”

We interviewed Tim in October.

We hope some of our books make it into a Christmas stocking or two! See you next year!

William and Kairin.