He takes us on a tour of the principle of care in all its dimensions. He examines everything from the conceptualisation of care in Greek mythology to his personal experience of the UK health care system after stubbing his toe in an ill-fated attempt to care for a young cat.

This story is very wide-ranging, in part because Tim demonstrates that the principle of care has a much wider meaning than professional health care, or even caring for your loved ones. Yet, the book is highly readable. The personal anecdotes woven throughout, and his detailing of its writing process, make the story both relatable and easy to digest. It also makes the book feel quite personal – Tim takes the reader along on quiet walks across the Seine as well as on feverish dreamt conversations with long-gone economists.

This book is not filled with new insights. As Tim himself notes in the introduction, the care economy is both predominantly run, and researched, by women. He draws extensively on their work. Yet what is – to our mind at least – highly refreshing about this book is the combination of in-depth, well researched content and readability.

The Care Economy shows at once that the principle of care can be applied almost everywhere, although capitalist forms of organisation are antithetical to it. In recasting health as true wealth, it invites us to strive for balance rather than perpetual growth, marking a clear link to Tim’s previous books. And it does all this in a way that readers without any formal training in economics can relate to.

In doing so it recasts ‘the economy’ from an abstract concept best left to professional economists to a relatable and necessarily normative construct with underlying principles we should all feel entitled to debate.

In the closing chapter, Tim offers suggestions of what concrete steps we can take in that direction, grocery list style. Admittedly, the suggestions need some more work before they could be implemented. But it’s a start – and that’s precisely how it’s intended.

Hopefully, this book can serve as a stepping stone to building an economy centered on care. An economy that we can all shape, starting with a cultural shift in appreciating the true meaning of care in our society.