Narconomics

Tom Wainwright

Business and economics

Print length: 278 pagesPublicAffairs, 2016

Description

Tom Wainwright examines the global illegal drug trade as a business serving approximately 250 million customers. His investigation ranges from Andean cocaine fields and Central American prisons to Colorado cannabis shops and the Dark Web. Through comparisons with major corporations, the book analyzes cartel practices including branding, customer service, competition, and collusion. It also considers tattoos as business signals and cartel interest in corporate social responsibility. Wainwright asks what governments might learn by treating cartels as organized businesses, arguing that a clearer understanding of how they operate could improve efforts to combat them.

Reading profile

About this profile

Collected’s assessment, not reader ratings. Complexity runs from 1 (least demanding) to 5 (most demanding).

Writing: How much attention the sentences and language require.
Ideas: How much interpretation or abstract reasoning the book asks of you.
Structure: How much you need to keep track of speakers, timelines and connections.
Background knowledge: Prior knowledge needed to follow the book, beyond what it explains.
Emotional intensity: Emotional pressure, from gentle (1) to intense (5). Separate from difficulty.

Writing style

Direct · Journalistic · Witty

Pace

Brisk

Tone

Cerebral · Dark · Irreverent

Structure

Argumentative

Focus

Argument · Ideas · Information

Emotional intensity

3 / 5

Reading complexity

1–5 · higher means more demanding

Writing: 3 / 5
Ideas: 3 / 5
Structure: 3 / 5
Background knowledge: 2 / 5

Themes

AddictionCrime and punishmentInequalityPolitics and ideologyPowerWealth

Book details

For the print edition listed above.

Publisher: PublicAffairs
Language: English
ISBN: 9781610395830

Keep your books and notes in Collected for iPhone.

Apple Books is a service mark of Apple Inc. iPhone is a trademark of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.