The Hidden Economics of Food

Key Takeaways Development requires intervention: South Korea didn't develop by following free-market orthodoxy. The state picked winners, protected industries, and directed credit—everything Western economists told them not to do. Yesterday's poor can become today's rich: In the 1960s, South Korea was poorer than Ghana. The transformation happened within a single generation, proving that poverty isn't destiny. Comparative advantage is made, not found: Korea had no "natural" advantage in shipbuilding, steel, or semiconductors. It created those advantages through deliberate industrial policy. Memory matters: Koreans still eat acorn jelly—not from necessity but as a reminder of where they came from. Economic transformation doesn't erase history; it transforms its meaning. The Taste of Hunger In a trendy Seoul restaurant, you might find dotorimuk—acorn jelly—served as an appetizer. It’s slightly bitter, pleasantly chewy, drizzled with sesame oil and soy sauce. Foodies describe it as “earthy” and “sophisticated.” ...

Key Takeaways History casts long shadows: Countries that were heavily exploited during slavery and colonialism remain poorer today. This isn't coincidence—it's path dependence, where past structures shape present outcomes. Slavery was economics, not just cruelty: The Atlantic slave trade wasn't irrational prejudice. It was a profit-maximizing system that generated enormous wealth—for the enslavers. Colonialism extracted, not developed: Colonial powers built infrastructure to extract resources, not to develop economies. Ports connected to plantations, not to local markets. Culture follows economics: The racist ideologies justifying slavery came after the economic system was established. Prejudice rationalized profit, not the other way around. A Vegetable That Crossed in Chains Okra originated in Africa—probably Ethiopia or West Africa, where it had been cultivated for thousands of years. Today, it’s ubiquitous in the American South, essential to gumbo, and a staple across the Caribbean. ...

Key Takeaways Economic models aren't reality: The "desert island" thought experiment beloved by economists strips away everything that makes economies actually work—institutions, power, history, and collective action. Productivity is constructed: What counts as "productive" depends on who's measuring and what they value. Colonial powers called Africans and Asians "lazy" while exploiting their labor. Rational choice is a myth: Humans don't optimize utility functions. We're social beings embedded in institutions, making decisions shaped by culture, habit, and limited information. Simple models serve powerful interests: Stripping economics to "individual choice" conveniently ignores collective action, power dynamics, and structural inequality. The Island Fantasy Every economics student encounters Robinson Crusoe. Stranded alone on an island with coconut palms, he must decide how to allocate his time between gathering coconuts and leisure. ...

Key Takeaways Care work is invisible in GDP: Raising children, caring for the elderly, maintaining households—this work is essential but unmeasured. If it's not bought and sold, it doesn't count. The invisibility is gendered: Women do most unpaid care work. The economic system's blindness to this work systematically undervalues women's contributions. Markets depend on what they don't measure: No one would be available for paid work if someone wasn't doing the unpaid work of raising, feeding, and caring for workers. What we measure shapes what we value: GDP's exclusion of care work isn't neutral—it creates policy blind spots that perpetuate inequality. The Flavor You Can’t Name Anchovies are the secret ingredient in dishes that don’t taste like anchovies. ...

Key Takeaways Cheap goods hide expensive systems: Low prices are achieved by externalizing costs—to workers, environments, and communities that consumers never see. Supply chains obscure responsibility: No single company controls or even knows everything in the chain. This diffusion allows exploitation to continue. Environmental destruction subsidizes consumption: Mangrove destruction, ocean pollution, and carbon emissions are "free" to the companies but costly to the planet. Labor abuses are structural: Forced labor and dangerous conditions aren't exceptions—they're logical outcomes of supply chains designed to minimize costs. The Journey of a Prawn A prawn in your supermarket might have traveled something like this: ...

Key Takeaways Heroic entrepreneurs are myths: Every "self-made" success story omits the infrastructure, institutions, and accumulated knowledge that made success possible. Innovation is collective: Even inventions attributed to individuals build on public research, shared knowledge, and supportive ecosystems. Government creates markets: The instant noodle industry emerged from US food aid, Japanese industrial policy, and public infrastructure—not just private vision. The myth serves interests: Attributing success to individuals justifies their rewards and obscures the social conditions of innovation. The Story They Tell Momofuku Ando, the founder of Nissin Foods, is celebrated as the inventor of instant noodles—a global industry now worth over $45 billion. ...

Key Takeaways Preferences aren't natural: Economics treats consumer wants as given starting points. In reality, wants are shaped by marketing, social context, and deliberate manipulation. Markets create demand: The baby carrot industry didn't discover latent demand—it manufactured demand through product design and marketing. Choice isn't sovereignty: When preferences are shaped by those with commercial interests, "consumer choice" is less free than it appears. The framing matters: The same product—carrots cut small—becomes a health food or junk food alternative depending on how it's positioned. The Invention of Baby Carrots In 1986, California carrot farmer Mike Yurosek had a problem. Carrots are irregular. Grocers wanted perfect specimens. Ugly carrots—twisted, broken, misshapen—were thrown away or sold as animal feed. ...

Key Takeaways Prices lie: The price of beef excludes environmental damage, health costs, and subsidies. The true cost is several times the store price. Externalities are the rule, not the exception: Most production imposes costs on third parties who don't consent and aren't compensated. Markets systematically underprice harmful goods. Subsidies compound the problem: Taxpayers fund the beef industry through subsidies, then pay again through environmental damage, then again through healthcare costs. Fixing prices isn't radical: Internalizing externalities—making prices reflect true costs—is basic economics. The radical position is ignoring reality. The Five-Dollar Burger You can buy a fast-food burger for about $5. At the supermarket, ground beef costs maybe $5-8 per pound. These prices seem to reflect the cost of producing beef. ...

Key Takeaways Corporations can be more powerful than governments: In early 20th-century Central America, fruit companies had more money, more influence, and more power than the states they operated in. "Banana republic" describes a real pattern: Export economies dependent on a single commodity become hostage to the companies that control that commodity. The US government served corporate interests: The CIA overthrew Guatemala's democracy in 1954 because land reform threatened United Fruit Company profits. The pattern continues: Modern corporations may not directly overthrow governments, but they extract concessions, avoid taxes, and shape policy through economic power. The Term We Use Too Casually “Banana republic” has become a casual insult—a way to describe any dysfunctional government. We use it without thinking about where it came from. ...

Key Takeaways Intellectual property creates artificial scarcity: Unlike physical goods, ideas can be shared without being depleted. IP law deliberately restricts this sharing to create profits. The justification doesn't always hold: Patents and copyrights are supposed to incentivize innovation. But many industries innovate without them, and IP often protects the obvious. The costs are hidden: Higher drug prices, restricted access to knowledge, and blocked follow-on innovation—these costs are real but invisible compared to visible corporate profits. It's a policy choice, not natural law: IP regimes are designed by governments, often under corporate pressure. They can be redesigned. The World’s Most Valuable Recipe Coca-Cola’s formula is supposedly locked in a vault in Atlanta. Only a few executives know the complete recipe. The secrecy is legendary—and deliberate. ...