Posts Tagged ‘Planet Money’

‘Passion Economy’ by Adam Davidson

January 9th, 2020

WHO: Adam Davidson

WHAT: THE PASSION ECONOMY:
The New Rules for Thriving in the Twenty-First Century

WHEN: Published by Knopf January 7, 2020

WHERE: The author lives in Brooklyn.

WHY: “Fine inspiration for entrepreneurs that should be required reading in any business school curriculum.
“Financial journalist Adam Davidson explores the new economy of pursuing one’s dreams instead of plodding through a thankless career. Do what you love, and the money will follow. Davidson, a New Yorker staff writer and creator of NPR’s Planet Money podcast, takes that idea and runs with it, his book predicated on the thrilling idea that a new economy is right around the corner, one in which ‘our work lives and our deepest passions can merge, happily, in ways that make us better off financially and personally.’
“Think of a place like a certain well-known fast-food chain, one that makes it ‘immediately clear that you are not in a place of joy,’ a place where workers are replaceable and know it. Then contrast that with someone with a rare skill set, someone who, as with one of his examples, took training as a naval aviator and retail consultant and turned that into a delicious, much-sought-after candy bar, successful even though the candy giants had a lock on the distribution chain. Another example is a woman who grew up around the people who, with callused hands and dirty boots, did the hard work of harvesting grapes, and she converted her in-depth knowledge into a marketing business positioning wines before discerning audiences of drinkers.
“There’s a new paradigm at work here, one that defies the old laws of supply and demand and that instead posits that price, for instance, is one of those things that a customer understands is a token of ‘the benefits they hope to receive: benefits based on very specialized knowledge.’ Technology and interlocked global markets bring this specialized knowledge to the world in ways that could only have been dreamed of in the past. Davidson’s case studies are excellent, but the heart of the book is a set of rules worthy of committing to memory—e.g., ‘Pursue intimacy at scale’; ‘Know what business you’re in, and it’s probably not what you think.'” —KIRKUS, a starred review

“Exuberant…Davidson’s anecdotes are captivating with shrewd lessons on management, marketing, and strategy…Readers with a start-up yen will find useful and inspiring insights here.” —Publishers Weekly

Jacket photo


Media Resources:
About the book and author | Author tour | Read an excerpt | Download the jacket | Download the author photo


Knopf.
307 pages. $27.95 ISBN 978-0-385-35352-6


To interview the author, contact
Erinn Hartman | 212-572-2345
ehartman@penguinrandomhouse.com