Includes bibliographical references and index.

The flaw -- Becoming homo economicus -- The corporation -- On diamon ds and water -- Anti-economic man -- We are all commoners -- The counte rmovement and the right to have rights -- Democracy in the city -- Back to food sovereignty -- Anton's blindness.

Patel shows how our faith in prices as a way of valuing the world is misplaced and reveals that our current crisis is not simply the result of too much of the wrong kind of economics but rather the larger failu re of a democratically bankrupt political system. The solution he offer s: discover 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.