Customer Reviews

The Perverse Economy: The Impact of Markets on People and the Environment

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As is usual with Michael Perelman's books, apparently, "The Perverse Economy" deals with two different issues at the same time. On the one hand, he discusses and criticizes the mainstream economic views related to natural resources, the ecology, and sustainability. On the other, Perelman addresses the causes of inequality and the inefficiency of markets in a simple, introductory manner, focusing in particular upon the importance of taking temporality into account, known as discounting.

The benefit of Perelman's style is that it is very easy reading. He takes the time to explain every concept, uses hardly any jargon, avoids all technical discussions, and makes extensive use of examples from history and current events. On the other hand, much of the book is not new to those who are beyond the novice stage in radical economics, and just like in "The Invention of Capitalism", his two threads of thought are never really woven together. Both issues are explained in a succinct and accessible manner by Perelman, but their connection is not made clear, and he could have worked both out to a separate book on their own instead.

Nevertheless, this book serves as a good popular introduction to the problems associated with market economies, and is useful for those with little knowledge of economics or (radical) history.

I agree with Perelman's central thesis: unregulated markets do not serve workers or the environment well. The economic models used to advocate such markets are based on unreasonable assumptions, such as the assumption that everyone makes free, fully-informed, rational decisions. This book raises these issues and provides a few good historical examples.

That said, Perelman desperately needs an editor. The argument does not flow well. Some paragraphs seem to bear little relation to the surrounding text. It is often difficult to see how one statement follows from (or, in some cases, is even consistent with) the previous statement. At a finer level, Perelman does not seem to fully understand how to use a comma.

I'm not sure who the target audience is for this book. Liberals and progressive like myself will nod along, occasionally finding a good line but not having any major shift of position. Market fundamentalists will not find this book convincing. It might be valuable for someone who suspects that something is wrong with unrestrained capitalism, but can't put their finger on it.

This isn't a bad book ... but it could have been better.