Doughnut Economics audiobook cover - This warm, practical tour of Doughnut Economics invites a gentler, wiser way to think about progress—one that helps societies meet everyone’s needs while staying within Earth’s limits, so prosperity can be shared without sacrificing the living world.

Doughnut Economics

This warm, practical tour of Doughnut Economics invites a gentler, wiser way to think about progress—one that helps societies meet everyone’s needs while staying within Earth’s limits, so prosperity can be shared without sacrificing the living world.

Kate Raworth

★ 4.4 / 5(5 ratings)
Start ListeningDownload App
Categories:
EconomicsNature & the EnvironmentSociety & Culture

If You're Curious About These Questions...

You should listen to this audiobook

Listen to Doughnut Economics — Free Audiobook

Loading player...

Key Takeaways from Doughnut Economics

Learning Tools

Reinforce what you learned from Doughnut Economics

Mind Map

Doughnut Economics
The Doughnut Model+
The Obsession with Growth+
Beyond the Closed Market+
Redefining Human Behavior+
Economies as Complex Systems+
Tackling Inequality+
Regenerative Ecology+

Quiz — Test Your Understanding

Question 1 of 8
What do the inner and outer rings of the 'Doughnut' economic model represent?
  • A. Inner: Market economy; Outer: State regulations
  • B. Inner: Social foundation; Outer: Ecological ceiling
  • C. Inner: Developing nations; Outer: High-income nations
  • D. Inner: Renewable resources; Outer: Non-renewable resources
Question 2 of 8
According to the text, what was Simon Kuznets' primary criticism of the GDP metric he helped create?
  • A. It fails to account for inflation over long periods of time.
  • B. It overestimates the value of digital and service-based economies.
  • C. It inherently encourages environmental destruction by rewarding pollution.
  • D. It only measures market activity, ignoring the value produced by households, society, and the state.
Question 3 of 8
How does the author use the story of Adam Smith writing 'The Wealth of Nations' to illustrate a flaw in mainstream economic theory?
  • A. It highlights how economic models completely ignore the essential role of unpaid household labor.
  • B. It shows that early economists relied too heavily on government grants.
  • C. It proves that intellectual property was undervalued in the eighteenth century.
  • D. It demonstrates that free markets naturally provide for the common good without state intervention.
Question 4 of 8
What does the 'Ultimatum Game' demonstrate about human behavior compared to the 'Rational Economic Man' model?
  • A. Humans are far more calculating and selfish than the model predicts.
  • B. People will always accept any amount of free money, proving the model correct.
  • C. A sense of fairness often overrides pure self-interest, contradicting the model.
  • D. Financial decisions are primarily driven by a hatred of work and love of luxuries.
Question 5 of 8
Why does the author argue against using the traditional 'equilibrium' model of supply and demand?
  • A. It relies on complex mathematical formulas that policymakers cannot understand.
  • B. It assumes the economy operates like physics, ignoring unpredictable boom-and-bust cycles and complex system feedback loops.
  • C. It places too much emphasis on the environmental costs of production.
  • D. It only applies to ancient economic systems like those managed by the Greeks.
Question 6 of 8
What is the fundamental flaw of the Kuznets curve regarding economic growth and inequality?
  • A. It incorrectly predicts that high-income countries will eventually eliminate all taxes.
  • B. It assumes that developing nations can never achieve the same wealth as developed nations.
  • C. It falsely claims that inequality will naturally decrease once a nation's economy becomes rich enough.
  • D. It argues that environmental degradation is necessary to reduce poverty.
Question 7 of 8
What does it mean to transition from a 'linear' to a 'circular' economy?
  • A. Shifting from globalized trade networks to local, community-based bartering.
  • B. Moving from an economy based on disposable products to one focused on reusing and repurposing materials.
  • C. Changing the tax system to continuously redistribute wealth from the rich to the poor.
  • D. Replacing fiat currency with complementary tenders like the Bangla-Pesa.
Question 8 of 8
How would the implementation of 'demurrage' help transition away from a growth-obsessed economy?
  • A. It would automatically tax carbon emissions, reducing environmental footprints.
  • B. It would cause unspent currency to lose value over time, incentivizing people to invest and spend rather than hoard wealth.
  • C. It would increase interest rates, encouraging people to save more money in banks.
  • D. It would replace national currencies with a single, global electronic currency.

Doughnut Economics — Full Chapter Overview

Doughnut Economics Summary & Overview

This narration explores the central ideas of Doughnut Economics: an approach designed for the realities of the 21st century, where human well-being and planetary stability must be held together, not traded off against each other. It highlights why older economic stories—often centered on endless growth and GDP—can miss the real costs of inequality and environmental breakdown.

Across eight chapters, you’ll hear how the “Doughnut” frames a safe and just space for humanity, why we need a broader cast of economic players than standard textbook models allow, and how a healthier view of human nature can lead to better policy. The journey closes with hopeful, grounded ways to start thinking and acting differently, wherever you live.

Who Should Listen to Doughnut Economics?

  • Listeners who feel uneasy about inequality, climate change, and the limits of GDP—and want a clearer, calmer framework for what “progress” could mean.
  • Students, educators, and curious citizens looking for a modern economic story that includes people, communities, and the living planet.
  • Policy-minded listeners and business leaders who want language and principles for building distributive, regenerative systems.

About the Author: Kate Raworth

Kate Raworth is an economist known for developing the Doughnut Economics framework, first introduced in 2011, as a way to reimagine the goal of economics for the 21st century: meeting every person’s needs within the means of the planet.

🎧
Listen in the AppOffline playback & background play
Get App