The Nature of Economies

This book and its companion "The Economy of Cities" is a far greater contribution than "The Death and Life of Great American Cities".This book is filled with useful maxims to consider like:*An animal, a plant, a legal code, a delta - or an improvised shoe sole, all depend on the same underlying process for development.*The principles of chemistry, mechanics and biology are not limits. They're invitations to work along with them. *Development is NOT a COLLECTION of THINGS but a PROCESS that produces THINGS. And those differentiations will ALWAYS emerge first from generalities. And healthy respiration of those economies can be measured by their ability to export and earn imports.*We can't create or destroy energy, each of us is but a component, intermediary and conduit!*Playtime (not necessity) was likely the mother of the wheel, and many other inventions (like locomotives from London) *There is more and more photosynthesis and biomass everyday!*Humans create nothing "unnatural", it was all cast up by nature!Economists will appreciate much in this book. Just as she points out Adam Smith's "blindspot" of GDP in "Wealth of Nations", she does the same here with his division of labor principle (as merely symptomatic vs generative). I too as a young Econ student always felt something was missing from the supply-demand equations. She praises him rightly for his observations on "feedback" though, something I didn't realize ecologists has to learn from economists.This section also offers a simple outline of why distortions (tariffs, bribes, kickbacks, falsifications of honest costs) are negative-feedback and so harmful to future development. She ends the chapter with Keynes and his flawed logic of "trying to invent a new negative-feedback control" with demand-side economics. This book could just as easily be titled "The Ecology of Economies". Or maybe "The Mystery of Development". Jacobs also leaves us with some profound unanswerable questions like "why is the universe pushing us toward more intricacy and entaglement, and away from simplicity"!? She uses the Kate character to plug one of her other books (Systems of Survival) and another (The Beak of the Finch - now on my Amazon list).Despite the distortion governments impose on economies, I walked away optimistic about the health of the planet, our job markets and the reality that we've only just scrathed the surface of what there is to do and discover in the world.Perhaps the most beautiful aspect of the book is the banter on fractals and the visual of these principles at work from ancestral mitrochondria to the farthest macro forces in the milky way. These bits reminded me of Arthur Koestler's book "The Ghost in the Machine" and the concept of butterfly effect, holons and hierarchy.As Jane writes: "we live in an eternally restless planet". "Its very creativity and fecundity require endless further corrections". "Pessimistically we can despair; Or optimistically, we can take zest in the fact that the world affords, among its riches, endless streams of interesting and constructive opportunities to correct and corect and correct what we do".

I loved Economies of Cities. This book is formatted as a dialogue among 4-5 people over what I'd call ecological economics. I found it tedious, without a useful guiding structure (something that academics *can* be good at). I'm not sure who I'd recommend it to, as there are surely better treatments of "the economy" as a biological organism...

It is no accident that Toronto is often rated as one of the most livable cities in North America -- Jane Jacobs lives there, and she takes an active role in helping shape her adopted city. She also does something original; she actively examines the topics she writes about, instead of relying upon the mere observations of others. When you use a chunk of granite, a bar of steel or the speed of light, it's worth knowing that inanimate objects don't change much. But, Jacobs and all other social scientists deal with people; and people are continually changing. One of her central themes is that since Adam Smith in 1776, economists have tended to ignore the real world. "Smith himself was partly responsible for that blind spot," Jacobs writes. "He led himself and others astray by declaring that economic specialization of regions and nations was more efficient than economic diversification. "The theorists after Smith retreated into their own heads instead of engaging ever more deeply with the real world," Jacobs writes. "Plenty of observable, germane facts were lying around in plain sight, ready and waiting to lead Smith's insights, straight as directional arrows, into the subjects of development and bifurcations." Adam Smith overturned centuries of thinking when he wrote, "It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard for their own interest." Until then, there was a general feeling that God, or Nature, or other supernatural force provided our sustenance; Smith said personal interest is the key to economic life. Smith takes that idea the next step: Yes, natural products exist, but we can wipe them out by overuse. Every system in nature is harmed by over-indulgence; nothing can be exploited without some collateral cost. Excess carries the seeds of its own destruction; humans are a part of nature, and thus subject to similar limitations. Thus, the book's title -- "The Nature of Economies." Every society is a part of nature; people are always subject to the inevitable laws of nature. This isn't tree-hugging ecology or a `Save a Whale for Jesus' fad; it's the fundamental rules by which nature, and thus our communities, live on a day-to-day basis. Consider a real example: Phoenix literally "paves the desert." Twenty years ago, climatologists knew this raised night temperatures, because asphalt soaks up heat during the day and radiates at night. Night temperatures have risen by almost 10 degrees -- which adds immensely to air conditioning bills, and greatly reduces livability. Yet, city officials steadfastly ignore this feedback to pursue a policy of unlimited growth. Is this unusual? Think of Los Angeles traffic, Las Vegas, Albuquerque, El Paso, and Tucson -- each with its own growing problems. Jacobs argues the "nature of economies" means being aware of feedback, and facing issues before they become a crisis. Despite her living in Toronto, do Canadians do it? No, Canadians ignored overfishing of the Grand Banks -- once the richest fishing area in the world -- until the area was fished out which caused the economy of Newfoundland to collapse. In brief, that's her lesson. Ignore feedback, ignore the evidence in front of our eyes, and we'll have economic and social collapse. Nature never offers "Get out of Jail Free" cards. Unlike many ecologists, Jacobs doesn't offer simplistic "get rid of the automobile" solutions. She says problems will arise whatever we do; the solution is in recognizing the feedback, then responding to the problem. In other words, "Look around." Then ask, "What can we do different?" She doesn't offer solutions; she offers thought processes to enable intelligent people to find solutions. Does she have a valid point? Well, Toronto officials listen to her, and have one of the best cities in North America. It's time her audience was expanded.

She was not an economist, developer, architect, city planner, or politician, but she was skillful in combining all of this drawing conclusions in this book.

This book is really about the nature of economy versus ecology. If you're interested in these topic then don't hesitate to get this

This is the second work I have read by Jane Jacobs (the first being her widely and well-known Death and Life of Great American Cities) and it reinforces my notion that during her life she authored a sparkling well of common sense from which every individual should draw deeply.

Jane Jacobs is a bit like Agatha Christie. A no nonsense view of economics and the city as an economic engine. I do sometimes wish she would look a little deeper into the policies she references.

Economics are not only about maths as some youngsters think. Economics is a branch of social sciences and one can not be a citizen without the most basic grasp of how the economy works.Jane Jacobs gives a short but detailed ( well , for the volume of the book), aspect of what economy is: do not be terrified of the "vintage" label, it's not Ricardo or Malthus, it's simple ( but not plain) and REALLY interesting for all and not only for Economics students