So an economic theory that believes humans to be almost exclusively driven by self-interest will create a society where cooperation is more difficult.”
It affects what people see as normal, how people view each other, and what behaviour people exhibit to fit in. There is too little debate, he claims, and this really matters because economics doesn’t just affect government policies and our own individual economic situation: In Professor Chang’s own field of economics, however, he says that the discipline has become increasingly narrow. But Britain in the 80s was on the cusp of a culinary revolution, opening up to many other food cultures. That was me in late July 1986 when, aged twenty-two, I boarded a flight to start my graduate studies in the University of Cambridge…”Ĭoming to the UK for the first time, “garlic monster” Ha-Joon is shocked to discover the blandness of English food. If you have lived all your life among garlic monsters, you don’t realise how much garlic you get through. South Koreans go through a staggering 7.5 kg of garlic per person a year – twelve times what the Italians consume. In this first episode, the focus is on garlic. Witty and thought-provoking, Professor Chang sets out to challenge ideas about the free-market economy which he believes have been too easily accepted for decades. Over five episodes he zooms in on garlic, bananas, okra, rye and chocolate, using the histories behind familiar foods - where they come from, how they are cooked and consumed, what they mean to different cultures - to explore economic theories. In Edible Economics, Ha-Joon Chang is inspired by his passion for food to reflect on why economics matters - or, as he puts it, “a hungry economist explains the world”.
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