Skip to content

Value of Nothing
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

Value of Nothing Paperback - 2010

by Rajeev Charles Patel

Economics is about choices, but who gets to make them? Patel shows how free market fundamentalism has distorted how consumers value their world.


From the publisher

A deeply though-provoking book about the dramatic changes we must make to save the planet from financial madness.--Naomi Klein, author of The Shock Doctrine Opening with Oscar Wilde's observation that nowadays people know the price of everything and the value of nothing, Patel shows how our faith in prices as a way of valuing the world is misplaced. He reveals the hidden ecological and social costs of a hamburger (as much as $200), and asks how we came to have markets in the first place. Both the corporate capture of government and our current financial crisis, Patel argues, are a result of our democratically bankrupt political system. If part one asks how we can rebalance society and limit markets, part two answers by showing how social organizations, in America and around the globe, are finding new ways to describe the world's worth. If we don't want the market to price every aspect of our lives, we need to learn how such organizations have discovered democratic ways in which people, and not simply governments, can play a crucial role in deciding how we might share our world and its resources in common. This short, timely and inspiring book reveals that our current crisis is not simply the result of too much of the wrong kind of economics. While we need to rethink our economic model, Patel argues that the larger failure beneath the food, climate and economic crises is a political one. If economics is about choices, Patel writes, it isn't often said who gets to make them. The Value of Nothing offers a fresh and accessible way to think about economics and the choices we will all need to make in order to create a sustainable economy and society.

Details

  • Title Value of Nothing
  • Author Rajeev Charles Patel
  • Binding Paperback
  • Edition [ Edition: first
  • Pages 256
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher St. Martins Press-3PL, New York
  • Date 2010-01-05
  • ISBN 9780312429249 / 031242924X
  • Weight 0.54 lbs (0.24 kg)
  • Dimensions 8.54 x 5.37 x 0.72 in (21.69 x 13.64 x 1.83 cm)
  • Themes
    • Aspects (Academic): Economic
  • Library of Congress subjects Democracy, Economics
  • Library of Congress Catalog Number 2009041546
  • Dewey Decimal Code 330.122

Media reviews

Citations

  • Choice, 01/01/2011, Page 0
  • Kirkus Reviews, 11/01/2009, Page 0
  • Library Journal, 03/01/2010, Page 90
  • Publishers Weekly, 11/02/2009, Page 46

About the author

Raj Patel, the author of Stuffed and Starved, is an activist and academic who has been hailed as a visionary for his prescience about the food crisis. Raj has worked for the World Bank and the World Trade Organization and has protested against them on four continents. He is currently a visiting scholar at UC Berkeley's Center for African Studies, an Honorary Research Fellow at the School of Development Studies at the University of KwaZulu-Natal and a fellow at the Institute for Food and Development Policy, also known as Food First.

Back to Top

More Copies for Sale

The Value of Nothing: How to Reshape Market Society and Redefine Democracy
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

The Value of Nothing: How to Reshape Market Society and Redefine Democracy

by Raj Patel

  • Used
Condition
Used - Very Good
ISBN 13
9780312429249
ISBN 10
031242924x
Quantity Available
1
Seller
Waltham, Massachusetts, United States
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
NZ$2.92
NZ$5.07 shipping to USA

Show Details

Description:
Picador. Used - Very Good. . . All orders guaranteed and ship within 24 hours. Your purchase supports More Than Words, a nonprofit job training program for youth, empowering youth to take charge of their lives by taking charge of a business.
Item Price
NZ$2.92
NZ$5.07 shipping to USA
The Value of Nothing: How to Reshape Market Society and Redefine Democracy
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

The Value of Nothing: How to Reshape Market Society and Redefine Democracy

by Patel, Raj

  • Used
  • good
  • Paperback
Condition
Used - Good
Binding
Paperback
ISBN 13
9780312429249
ISBN 10
031242924X
Quantity Available
2
Seller
Memphis, Tennessee, United States
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
NZ$8.67
FREE shipping to USA

Show Details

Description:
Picador, 2010-01-05. paperback. Good. 5x0x8.
Item Price
NZ$8.67
FREE shipping to USA
The Value of Nothing: How to Reshape Market Society and Redefine Democracy
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

The Value of Nothing: How to Reshape Market Society and Redefine Democracy

by Patel, Raj

  • Used
  • good
  • Paperback
Condition
Used - Good
Binding
Paperback
ISBN 13
9780312429249
ISBN 10
031242924X
Quantity Available
2
Seller
Houston, Texas, United States
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 4 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
NZ$8.70
FREE shipping to USA

Show Details

Description:
Picador, 2010-01-05. Paperback. Good. 5x0x8.
Item Price
NZ$8.70
FREE shipping to USA
The Value of Nothing: How to Reshape Market Society and Redefine Democracy
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

The Value of Nothing: How to Reshape Market Society and Redefine Democracy

by Patel, Raj

  • Used
  • Acceptable
  • Paperback
Condition
Used - Acceptable
Binding
Paperback
ISBN 13
9780312429249
ISBN 10
031242924X
Quantity Available
1
Seller
Kingwood, Texas, United States
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
NZ$8.70
FREE shipping to USA

Show Details

Description:
Picador, 2010-01-05. paperback. Acceptable. 5x0x8.
Item Price
NZ$8.70
FREE shipping to USA
The Value of Nothing : How to Reshape Market Society and Redefine Democracy
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

The Value of Nothing : How to Reshape Market Society and Redefine Democracy

by Patel, Raj

  • Used
Condition
Used - Good
ISBN 13
9780312429249
ISBN 10
031242924x
Quantity Available
1
Seller
Mishawaka, Indiana, United States
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
NZ$11.25
FREE shipping to USA

Show Details

Description:
Picador. Used - Good. Used book that is in clean, average condition without any missing pages.
Item Price
NZ$11.25
FREE shipping to USA
The Value of Nothing : How to Reshape Market Society and Redefine Democracy
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

The Value of Nothing : How to Reshape Market Society and Redefine Democracy

by Patel, Raj

  • Used
Condition
Used - Good
ISBN 13
9780312429249
ISBN 10
031242924x
Quantity Available
1
Seller
Reno, Nevada, United States
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
NZ$11.39
FREE shipping to USA

Show Details

Description:
Picador. Used - Good. Former library book; may include library markings. Used book that is in clean, average condition without any missing pages.
Item Price
NZ$11.39
FREE shipping to USA
The Value of Nothing : How to Reshape Market Society and Redefine Democracy
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

The Value of Nothing : How to Reshape Market Society and Redefine Democracy

by Patel, Raj

  • Used
Condition
Used - Good
ISBN 13
9780312429249
ISBN 10
031242924x
Quantity Available
3
Seller
Mishawaka, Indiana, United States
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
NZ$11.39
FREE shipping to USA

Show Details

Description:
Picador. Used - Good. Former library book; may include library markings. Used book that is in clean, average condition without any missing pages.
Item Price
NZ$11.39
FREE shipping to USA
The Value of Nothing : How to Reshape Market Society and Redefine Democracy

The Value of Nothing : How to Reshape Market Society and Redefine Democracy

by Raj Patel

  • Used
  • good
  • Paperback
Condition
Used - Good
Binding
Paperback
ISBN 13
9780312429249
ISBN 10
031242924X
Quantity Available
1
Seller
Seattle, Washington, United States
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 4 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
NZ$11.62
FREE shipping to USA

Show Details

Description:
Picador, 2010. Paperback. Good. Pages can have notes/highlighting. Spine may show signs of wear. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less.Dust jacket quality is not guaranteed.
Item Price
NZ$11.62
FREE shipping to USA
Value of Nothing

Value of Nothing

by Patel, Rajeev Charles

  • Used
  • very good
  • Paperback
Condition
Used - Very Good
Binding
Paperback
ISBN 13
9780312429249
ISBN 10
031242924X
Quantity Available
1
Seller
Seattle, Washington, United States
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 4 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
NZ$11.62
FREE shipping to USA

Show Details

Description:
St. Martins Press-3PL, 2010. Paperback. Very Good. May have limited writing in cover pages. Pages are unmarked. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less.Dust jacket quality is not guaranteed.
Item Price
NZ$11.62
FREE shipping to USA
The Value of Nothing: How to Reshape Market Society and Redefine Democracy
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

The Value of Nothing: How to Reshape Market Society and Redefine Democracy

by Raj Patel

  • Used
  • good
  • Paperback
Condition
Used - Good
Binding
Paperback
ISBN 13
9780312429249
ISBN 10
031242924X
Quantity Available
1
Seller
HOUSTON, Texas, United States
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 4 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
NZ$12.42
FREE shipping to USA

Show Details

Description:
Picador, 2010-01-05. Paperback. Good.
Item Price
NZ$12.42
FREE shipping to USA