From the Sydney Morning Herald Weekend Edition, April 24-25, 2004

ECONOMIA
by Geoff Davies
ABC Books, 498pp, $39.95 (pb)

Review by Bruce Elder

Everyone now knows that economics is a pseudo-science and that economists, in the words of the late Alistair Cooke, are "varieties of necromancers". Still, there are few books that set out clearly why modern economic theory is humbug. This remarkable book -- which systematically pillories modern economic concepts, from globalism to laissez-faire economics -- has been written by a senior fellow at the Australian National University whose field of expertise is geophysics.  A geophysicist writing about economics?  Well, better than an economist writing about economics.  If you are depressed whenever you hear an economic argument that common sense tells you is rubbish, then this is the book for you. Davies dissects modern economics and intellligently argues that it is possible to create a new economic system that will benefit society.  This may be utopia, but it is utopia beautifully argued.