The Passion Economy

November 4, 2019
Success in a downsizing, offshoring, automating economy is about following your passion, argues this exuberant and detailed primer on newfangled entrepreneurship. Davidson, a New Yorker economics writer and cofounder of NPR’s Planet Money podcast, warns readers to abandon jobs and businesses that can be automated or outcompeted by low-cost Asian firms. Instead, he contends, Americans should cultivate unique abilities and interests into specialty products and services for small markets accessed with the internet and cheap global transport. He illustrates his argument with case studies, including a lesbian couple who design menswear for women, an Amish factory producing horse-drawn farm equipment, and a pencil manufacturer that charges “bafflingly expensive” prices for #2s. Davidson’s business advice—shun commodity price-competition; find sheltered, high-margin niche markets—isn’t new, but his anecdotes are captivating, with shrewd lessons on management, marketing, and strategy. Firing bad customers, he notes, is as important as finding new ones. His case for mass entrepreneurship as a cure-all for economic discontents is less convincing, as it involves imponderables (“knowing yourself is crucial”), risks, and sharp edges (“price conversations” need to be “filled with some degree of tension and awkwardness”). Nevertheless, readers with a start-up yen will find useful and inspiring insights here.