Otto Lehto

Doughnut Economics is a really cute title. It is unfortunately not the only cringeworthy aspect of this book. Kate Raworth's ambitious fairytale for adults encompasses Life, the Universe and Everything. It warns against ecological and economic overshoot but itself overshoots in its wide-eyed claims and heterodox heresies. As it happens, futurology is one tough doughnut to crack. The book has a few central problems: 1) It attempts a synthesis that lacks solid foundations and relies on ephemeral, dubious premises. 2) It is too utopian in its claims about the powers of social planners to "steward" social complexity. 3) It misrepresents basic economic facts, historical and theoretical, e.g. the nature of economic growth and the views of neoclassical and "neoliberal" (always a sign of trouble) thinkers. 4) It preaches humanistic pluralism and social cooperation but reeks of totalitarian impulses, what with its call for top-down global governance structures and for the subjugation of almost all private interests and markets to democratically agreed-upon ends. 5) Did I mention how much I hate the title? Now, that sounds quite harsh, and that is intentional, but the book is not all bad. It explores absolutely crucial avenues, from environmental sustainability to the digital commons, from alternative currencies to basic income schemes, from land value taxation to financial reforms. It provides food for thought for any thinking person and it crystallizes a kind of a new manifesto for progressivism. But it overshoots. It fails to temper its high architectural hopes with engineering modesty. It doesn't get that complexity is an emergent order that cannot be set to serve particular chosen ends without sacrificing its very life force. "Regenerative and distributive" is a nice catch phrase, but a more accurate one may be "all aboard the happy train, this way lies unwarranted short-lived enthusiasm." If you feel the calling in your heart, go ahead and follow the vision, my brave Soldiers of the Order of the Doughnut. But harken these words: do not be surprised if you encounter many road blocks - unexpected glitches in the Doughnut matrix - on the way to the completion of your sweet utopia.