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  • Narconomics

  • How to Run a Drug Cartel
  • Written by: Tom Wainwright
  • Narrated by: Brian Hutchison
  • Length: 8 hrs and 57 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (71 ratings)

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Narconomics

Written by: Tom Wainwright
Narrated by: Brian Hutchison
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Publisher's Summary

What drug lords learned from big business.

How does a budding cartel boss succeed (and survive) in the $300 billion illegal drug business? By learning from the best, of course. From creating brand value to fine-tuning customer service, the folks running cartels have been attentive students of the strategy and tactics used by corporations such as Walmart, McDonald's, and Coca-Cola.

And what can government learn to combat this scourge? By analyzing the cartels as companies, law enforcers might better understand how they work - and stop throwing away $100 billion a year in a futile effort to win the "war" against this global, highly organized business.

Your intrepid guide to the most exotic and brutal industry on earth is Tom Wainwright. Picking his way through Andean cocaine fields, Central American prisons, Colorado pot shops, and the online drug dens of the Dark Web, Wainwright provides a fresh, innovative look into the drug trade and its 250 million customers.

The cast of characters includes "Bin Laden", the Bolivian coca guide; "Old Lin", the Salvadoran gang leader; "Starboy", the millionaire New Zealand pill maker; and a cozy Mexican grandmother who cooks blueberry pancakes while plotting murder. Along with presidents, cops, and teenage hit men, they explain such matters as the business purpose for head-to-toe tattoos, how gangs decide whether to compete or collude, and why cartels care a surprising amount about corporate social responsibility.

More than just an investigation of how drug cartels do business, Narconomics is also a blueprint for how to defeat them.

©2016 Tom Wainwright (P)2016 Audible, Inc.

What listeners say about Narconomics

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Honest and in-depth

This was by far one of the most interesting books I have ever read/listened to. It gave a real view how we in North America approach narcotics incorrectly and how we fool ourselves into thinking it is going away. It changed my understanding of the illegal markets and what policy does to 'discourage' them, and helped me form new opinions. I would encourage this book to everyone, especially with marijuana being legalized in Canada and around the United States.

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    4 out of 5 stars

Great first 2/3s, last part falls off

This book is really good for more than half. Very well done in terms of research and explaining how cartels operate.

However when it gets to the online drug scene all the interesting stuff grinds to a halt. The online stuff is interesting, sure, but it goes on and on. Then the rest the book is talking about legalizing cannabis.

The narrator is mediocre. Wouldn't say he is bad, but certainly lacks charisma or energy. Fairly monotone, so all the jokes or points of enthusiasm fall flat.

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    5 out of 5 stars

Interesting approach to the issue

I enjoyed the approach that was taken in this book to the issue of drug trafficking, looking at it from the economics standpoint, it was very revealing and the author made excellent points to show how it is just another industry in the world

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Fascinating read!

I really appreciated the approach the author took to distill the realities of the so called war on drugs. Sad that the global policy makers waste tax paying dollars and allowing innocent lives to perish due to their lack of willingness to collaborate. Very informative for both federal agents and drug cartels. Very insightful
Thank you

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Insightful Application of Economics

A study of the economic drivers behind the illegal drug trade, with insights into solutions to the problem of the "war." Well analyzed with intriguing insights.

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Good

I was recommended this book by a friend of mine, solid read but just wasn't that exceptional to me. I've read more engaging economics books about less interesting topics.

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Entertaining and informative

Enjoying the perspective of an economist and the approach the author takes. #audible1.
Narrator is good and easy to lsten to.

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Entertaining and informative!

This is a great audio book, I can highly recommend it to you! :) #audible1

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    4 out of 5 stars

This is the book to convince you, or someone you know that we are fighting this problem wrong.

The narration is fantastic, and even more the content of the book is amazing. This book takes a deep look at HOW the drug business is run, and explains how we can disrupt it in a way that minimizes harm, stops the economic drain into organized crime, and look at the whole system instead of a part. Highly recommend.

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Must read

The book is an excellent overview of the business of drug dealing from an economics perspective.
The narrative is mostly neutral but the author cannot resist gently mocking the failing "war on drugs" policies on occasion. From a leftie perspective his comments are all too soft, but for a rightie they may seem the height of offense.
The bottom line is that all information presented is factual and most of his conclusions have been discussed for decades in the academia.
The author does not discuss why there is a war on drugs in the first place and why it persists despite overwhelming evidence of its failure. For such discussions you will have to look elsewhere. I suggest starting with the New Jim Crow...

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