Resources to understand the economy without abstractions/money
December 9, 2020 9:06 AM Subscribe
I am interested in understanding the economy as it pertains to the wellbeing of people, rather than the value of some subset of publicly traded companies. Particularly, I'm interested in answering questions about what the material and labour requirements are to sustain a society that can provide adequate food, water, shelter, healthcare, transportation, etc for all of its members.
To this end, I'm seeking recommendations for articles/books/datasets/podcast episodes/videos/etc to understand, at a high level, the materials and labour that go into the areas mentioned above, or areas that are prerequisites for those (for instance, various sorts of mining and refining are probably required for modern transportation, construction, and farming, and thus mining is generally in-scope for this question, etc).
Things that I've found that are up this alley:
I don't expect to understand this all at once — this will probably be a very long project, ideally starting with very high-level overviews of each area, and slowly drilling down through various prerequisites and filling in more details over time. I'm just looking to populate a reading list to start from right now, rather than trying to have something complete.
To this end, I'm seeking recommendations for articles/books/datasets/podcast episodes/videos/etc to understand, at a high level, the materials and labour that go into the areas mentioned above, or areas that are prerequisites for those (for instance, various sorts of mining and refining are probably required for modern transportation, construction, and farming, and thus mining is generally in-scope for this question, etc).
Things that I've found that are up this alley:
- Factories Didn’t Ruin Farms, Farms Ruined Factories: interview with Caitlin Rosenthal
- United States Demographic Data > United States Employment Breakdown
- Energy and Civilization
- How Money Became the Measure of Everything
- List of U.S. states and territories by exports and imports
- UN Comtrade Database
- The Toaster Project
I don't expect to understand this all at once — this will probably be a very long project, ideally starting with very high-level overviews of each area, and slowly drilling down through various prerequisites and filling in more details over time. I'm just looking to populate a reading list to start from right now, rather than trying to have something complete.
The Occupational Outlook Handbook lists the qualifications required for each type of job.
posted by catquas at 5:19 PM on December 9, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by catquas at 5:19 PM on December 9, 2020 [1 favorite]
Check out what the Energy and Resources Group at Berkeley works on.
posted by clew at 11:51 AM on December 10, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by clew at 11:51 AM on December 10, 2020 [1 favorite]
You might check out the writings of Christian Felber
I have not read his books but heard him speak. His theories are somewhat controversial, however still quite interesting if only for their radicality and willingness to challenge more mainstream economic theories.
posted by 15L06 at 1:45 PM on December 10, 2020 [1 favorite]
I have not read his books but heard him speak. His theories are somewhat controversial, however still quite interesting if only for their radicality and willingness to challenge more mainstream economic theories.
posted by 15L06 at 1:45 PM on December 10, 2020 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by kevinbelt at 9:24 AM on December 9, 2020 [2 favorites]