(P/B) THE GROWTH DELUSION

Παρουσίαση

In The Growth Delusion, author and prize-winning journalist David Pilling explores how economists and their cult of growth have hijacked our policy-making and infiltrated our thinking about what makes societies work. Our policies are geared relentlessly towards increasing our standard measure of growth, Gross Domestic Product. By this yardstick we have never been wealthier or happier. So why doesn't it feel that way? Why are we living in such fractured times, with global populism on the rise and wealth inequality as stark as ever?
In a book that is simultaneously trenchant, thought-provoking and entertaining, Pilling argues that we need to measure our successes and failures using different criteria. While for economic growth, heroin consumption and prostitution are worth more than volunteer work or public services, in a rational world we would learn how to value what makes economies better, not just what makes them bigger. So much of what is important to our wellbeing, from clean air to safe streets and from steady jobs to sound minds, lies outside the purview of our standard measure of success. We prioritise growth maximisation without stopping to think about the costs.
In prose that cuts through the complex language so often wielded by a priesthood of economists, Pilling argues that our steadfast loyalty to growth is informing misguided policies - and contributing to a rising mistrust of experts that is shaking the very foundations of our democracy. (From the publisher)

Περιεχόμενα

The Cult of Growth
THE PROBLEMS WITH GROWTH
Kuznets' Monster
The Wages of Sin
The Good, the Bad and the Invisible
Too Much of a Good Thing
The Internet Stole my GDP
What's Wrong with the Average Joe
GROWTH AND THE DEVELOPING WORLD
Elephants and Rhubarb
Growthmanship
Black Power, Green Power
BEYOND GROWTH
Wealth
A Modern Domesday
The Lord of Hapiness
GPD 2.0
The Growth Conclusion
Acknowledgments
Notes
Index