Between improved transportation and the dawn of the internet, the world has gotten a lot smaller in a very short period of time. Many scholars and academics have suggested that individuals should cease identifying themselves as citizens of a certain nation or principality and instead identify as citizens of the planet. That way, nations would account for the repercussions of their actions and decisions on other countries before enacting a new law or decreeing a new embargo.
If you want to learn more about the global economy, global citizenship, and the future of the planet, here are a few great books to get you started.
Poor Economics by Abhijit V. Banerjeeand Esther Duflo | Challenging the standard wisdom on how to help developing nations to develop faster, Banerjee and Duflo call on research studies, anthropological analyses, and their own randomized control trials to offer a better and more meaningful way to make sure donations and investments into developing nations do the most good possible. From reassessing how we conceptualize human behavior to revisiting education practices across the planet, the authors shift the entire paradigm of charity on its head. Poor Economics is a must-read if you want to move beyond altruism and into a fully global economy.
The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy by Pietra Rivoli | The average person likely has no idea what the life cycle of your average cotton t-shirt looks like, from the growing of the cotton fibers to the weaving of the threads to the stores where it’s stocked to the markets where second-hand shirts are sold in developing nations. Rivoli uses the humble t-shirt as an example of how the whole planet participates in every market on various levels, but how the benefits are distributed in ways that seem to make little sense.
The Fourth Industrial Revolution by Klaus Schwab | The founder of the World Economic Forum, Klaus Schwab penned his most recent book to detail what the future holds for the planet as technology becomes the driving force in our social circles, markets, and governments. The book is not meant to induce fear or widespread panic, despite all the naysayers who believe that society as we know it will fail to exist once the robots take over. Rather, Schwab delineates a plan of action to make sure our labor forces, infrastructure, and most vulnerable populations are prepared for the next iteration of the industrial revolution.