Hoodie Economics (Jack Manning Bancroft, Hardie Grant)

Hoodie Economics is not your regular economics book. In his book, Jack Manning Bancroft, founder and CEO of the mentoring program AIME, pulls apart what ‘people in suits’ might think of as economics, and presents a revolutionary new values system—one that celebrates relationships over transactions and incorporates Indigenous knowledge and ideas from those on the margins of society. Across nine chapters, the book reveals how flawed modern economics has become, with each chapter featuring a beautiful painting by BRAT (the name Manning Bancroft paints under). According to the author, modern economics has developed into a monolithic, impenetrable system that excludes and alienates. It seeks limitless growth and prioritises ownership and the individual over the community. Hoodie Economics advocates for a transformative system that values nature, life, relations, health and joy. Drawing on Tyson Yunkaporta’s Sand Talk, Manning Bancroft promotes Indigenous systems thinking, which is relational and values the health of animals and plants alongside the health of the community. An example is Indigenous fire management systems, which are guided by the land. Other examples of relational economics cited in the book include the legal rights of rivers (granted to New Zealand’s Whanganui River and the rivers of Bangladesh).  This book, written with humour and heart, invites society to rethink what we value and transform how we understand our world.

Books+Publishing reviewer: Coco McGrath is a freelance editor and former bookseller. Books+Publishing is Australia’s number-one source of pre-publication book reviews.

Category: Reviews