Beeronomics

How Beer Explains the World

Johan Swinnen and Devin Briski

Accessible and non-technical
Covers world history from ancient Mesopotamia to modern globalization through the lens of beer
Contains original economic research and analysis crafted by an expert
Provides context for recognizable brands and trends, explaining the economic forces behind which beer you see where and why

Beeronomics

How Beer Explains the World

Johan Swinnen and Devin Briski

Description

From prompting a transition from hunter-gatherer, to an agrarian lifestyle in ancient Mesopotamia, to bankrolling Britain's imperialist conquests, strategic taxation and the regulation of beer has played a pivotal role throughout history. Beeronomics: How Beer Explains the World tells these stories, and many others, whilst also exploring the key innovations that propelled the industrialization and consolidation of the beer market.

At the same time when mega-mergers in the brewing industry are creating huge transnationals selling their beer across the globe, the craft beer movement in America and Europe has brought the rich history of ancient brewing techniques to the forefront in recent years. But less talked about is the economic influence of this beverage on the world and the myriad ways it has shaped the course of history. Beeronomics covers world history through the lens of beer, exploring the common role that beer taxation has played throughout and providing context for recognizable brands and consumer trends and tastes.

Beeronomics examines key developments that have moved the brewing industry forward. Its most ubiquitous ingredient, hops, was used by the Hanseatic League to establish the export dominance of Hamburg and Bremen in the sixteenth century. During the late nineteenth century, bottom-fermentation led to the spread of industrial lager beer. Industrial innovations in bottling, refrigeration, and TV advertising paved the way for the consolidation and market dominance of major macrobreweries like Anheuser Busch in America and Artois Brewery in Belgium during the twentieth century. We're now in the era of global integration -- one multinational AB InBev, claims 46% of all beer profits -- but there's a counterrevolution afoot of small, independent craft breweries in America, Belgium and around the world. Beeronomics surveys these trends, giving context to why you see which brands and styles on shelves at your local supermarket or on tap at the nearby pub.

Beeronomics

How Beer Explains the World

Johan Swinnen and Devin Briski

Introduction: From Monastries to Multinationals and Back
1. The World's Oldest Profession: Brewing in the Cradle of Civilization
2. A Revolution Every Thousand Years: How Hops Jumpstarted Commercial Brewing in Medieval Europe
3. The Brew that Launched a Thousand Ships: How Porter Paid for the British Royal Navy
4. A Revolution Every Thousand Years, Part II: How Bottom-Fermentation Made Beer the Darling of the Scientific and Industrial Revolutions
5. How TV Killed the Local Brewery
6. Beer Monopoly: How the Belgian Beer Barons Dethroned the King
7. Socialist Lubricant: Liberalization, Take-Overs, and Restructuring of the East European Brewery Industry
8. The Belgian White: Reincarnation of an Old World Brew
9. The Reinheitsgebot: Protection Against Competition or Contamination?
10. From Land to Brand: How Nineteenth-Century Nationalist Politics Planted the Seeds for the Global Trademark Battle Over "Budweiser"
11. The Great Convergence: The Fall of the Beer-Drinking Nation, the Rise of the Beer-Drinking World
12. From Vodka to Baltika: Deciphering Russia's Recent Love Affair with Beer
13. Trading Water or Terroir? The Changing Nature of the Beer Trade
14. Craft Nation: How Belgium's "Peasant Beers" Became the Best in the World
15. Hop Heads and Locaholics: Strategies of the American Craft Beer Movement

Beeronomics

How Beer Explains the World

Johan Swinnen and Devin Briski

Author Information

Johan Swinnen is Professor of Economics and Director of the LICOS-Centre for Institutions and Economic Performance at the KU Leuven, Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) and a Visiting Scholar at the Centre for Food Security and the Environment (FSE) at Stanford University. He is a Fellow of the AAEA and the EAAE, was President of the International Association of Agricultural Economists (2012-2015) and is President of The Beeronomics Society. He was previously Lead Economist at the World Bank (2003-04) and Economic Advisor at the European Commission (1998-2001), and has been advisor to many international organizations and governments. He holds a Ph.D from Cornell University, and has published widely on agricultural and food policies, political economy, institutional reform, trade, global value chains, and standards.

Devin Briski is a print and audio journalist focusing on food, ideas, and technology. She serves as content marketing manager for the events team at Vox Media, which produces Code Conference and Vox Conversations. She is also host of the podcast One Man's Trash about the collectibles market. Devin began her career in Silicon Valley, where she worked on the publishing and marketing team of Stanford Social Innovation Review and co-founded online magazine The Ventured Life. She holds a bachelor's degree in sociology and a master's degree in journalism, both from Columbia University.

Beeronomics

How Beer Explains the World

Johan Swinnen and Devin Briski

From Our Blog

Beer and brewing by numbers [infographic]

Beer has been a vitally important drink through much of human history, be it just as a drink that was safe to consume when water might not have been, through to having significant economic and even political significance. The earliest written laws included regulations on beer, tax income from beer funded centuries of British imperialist conquests, and beer is the subject of the oldest international trademark dispute.

Posted on November 25, 2017

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Hop heads and locaholics: excerpt from Beeronomics

Beer drinkers across the United States observe the National American Beer Day annually on 27 October. Over the last decade two IPAs, craft beer and microbreweries have taken over the American beer market and continue their steady growth. This extract from Johan Swinnen and Devin Briski's Beeronomics discusses some of the strategies of the American craft beer movement.

Posted on October 27, 2017

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National Beer Lover's Day playlist

7 September is National Beer Lover's Day, a day to celebrate a shared passion for a drink that has been brewed for over 5000 years. Why not enjoy your favourite lager or ale with some beer-related music to get you into the spirit of things. Our beer-infused song selection takes you from the cheery delights of The Housemartins' to Julian Cope's "As the Beer Flows Over Me". We have plenty of anthems, and plain old drinking songs to provide the soundtrack to your Beer Lover's Day celebrations.

Posted on September 7, 2017

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