Edible Economics: A Hungry Economist Explains the World

A fluffy, rambling riff on food - how great it is!! - and economics - also great! I would NOT recommend this as someone's first Ha-Joon Chang book, or first economics book. But, if you've already thought “wait, mainstream neoclassical econ is bullshit” and “where the hell did the other economicses go” and “mmm kimchee nom nom nom” then... well, this is your book.

Pleasantly meandering

Chang weaves his own experiences with conversations about food and then using those stories as metaphors for economic concepts. It is a pretty good introduction to economic history and generally pleasant to read.

The problem is that it's short and discusses about a dozen different topics, so lots of information is cut. If you get intrigued by the economics of strawberry farming in the US, well, sorry, we're talking about limited liability now. Don't even get me started on how a book discussing the business of food seems to neglect child labor in cocoa bean farming.