Everyman by Antara Haldar: A book that strives to change the course of civilisation

Everyman: The Story of Economics in Three Acts

Author: Antara Haldar

ISBN-13: 978-0241541371

Publisher: Allen Lane

Guideline Price: £30; 398pp

This year is the 300th anniversary of the publication of Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift, the Anglo-Irish clergyman and satirist. It tells the story of Lemuel Gulliver, his travels and encounters with fantastical beings. He meets giants, immortals, civilised horses and other extraordinary creations.

It lampooned the most serious of topics, including relations between Britain and Ireland and party politics. This is a celebrated demonstration of a story offered pointed observations about the most important of issues.

A similar approach can be found in The Fable of the Bees, a poem by Bernard Mandeville published in 1714. Mandeville contended that the pursuit of private vices could achieve social progress, using the behaviour of a beehive to make his case.

Instead the search for virtue could harm the public good. The concluding lines warned that “Bare Virtue can’t make Nations live /In Splendor”.

Everyman by Antara Haldar is a work in this tradition, declaring that it is “a unique experiment in mixing science and storytelling”. She contends that explanations of economics “consign ourselves ex ante to ruin based on an unproven assumption about human nature: that we are intrinsically individualistic and selfish”.

The author aims big: to “provide a bold new vision for rewriting the plot of capitalism, and our lives, with the potential to tip the fate of our civilization one way rather than the other”. These are some aims for any book. It is a singular achievement to change the mind of a reader, it is something else to change the direction of a civilisation.

This aim is pursued by the creation of characters who reflect different economic theories. Neo is the “embodiment of perfect rationality and the poster child of freedom”. Wash personifies the virtues of free market.

The heroes are Eve, who is the “anonymous ordinary person”, and Tara, who is defined by her task “to build new institutions that will fix the misalignment between private profit and public interest”. The interaction between these characters is used to explain economic events and theories.

The story unfolds in three acts. The first section opens with the contribution of Adam Smith and his “double act” legacy: the power of self-interest and his recognition of the role of sympathy and empathy in social relations.

The second act of this work focuses on the rise of a globally integrated economy and the political leaders who supported and opposed this profound change. It concludes, somewhat awkwardly, with a description of the new economic theories that recognise a wider set of human motivations.

When the ambition of this work is so high, underachievement is nearly certain

A character observes that “Markets are influenced by a lot of noneconomic things: people’s fears, prejudices, reactions to news stories, elections and campaigns”. The recognition of this led to the development of behavioural economics.

It is in these chapters that the characters make their appearance. Neo hosts a gala dinner in his home, an “iconic four-story penthouse in Liberty Tower just off Wall Street”. He celebrates that “capitalism had become the biggest party on the planet”.

The work concludes with a dizzying overview of the political and economic developments that define our time. From the acceleration of technological change to the trade policies of President Trump, much is contained in these final chapters.

It is here that ambition and style triumph over consideration of the reader. A bull that “embodies the force of economic optimism” and “represents the powerful primal force of boom times” confronts our hero, Eve. Stepping into a bullring, she reminds herself: “We can be heroes just for one day.” Even the echoes of Bowie can be heard!

They engage in a three-act drama. After dramatic struggle, the bull is tamed. Eve refuses to kill the chastened animal; instead she and the conquered opponent are united in the belief that “love was the answer. Or better still, friendship.”

This conclusion is unlikely to change the course of civilisation. It may not even sway too many readers. In truth, when the ambition of this work is so high, underachievement is nearly certain.

There is more in this book for the writer than there will be for many readers. A breadth of knowledge, from behavioural economics to many literary allusions, is demonstrated. However, this is different from creating a unifying or compelling narrative.

For the general reader, there may be too much. For a reader already versed in economics, there will be too little.

Haldar is making the case for the value of moral imagination with verve and conviction. In doing so, a little less might have achieved a lot more.

Paschal Donohoe is managing director and chief knowledge officer at the World Bank Group