Prosperity Without Growth: Economics For A Finite Planet by Tim Jackson

Dec 28, 2012 Remi van Beekum rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Als je kinderen hebt of wilt, geïnteresseerd bent in de toekomst, in politiek, of in economie, of als je gewoon verder denkt en kijkt dan de aankomende paar jaar, dan is dit boek een must-read.

Onze economie is gebaseerd op structurele groei, terwijl de aarde niet groeit. Dus tenzij we ineens op Mars gaan wonen, kan iedereen zien aankomen dat de grondstoffen op raken en het hele economische systeem in elkaar zal donderen (binnen enkele decennia zoals het nu lijkt). We zien dat met de huidige eco...more

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Jul 27, 2012 Kevin Zeck rated it 4 of 5 stars

Too many big words strung together to form too many over long sentences. But that said, the authors make a couple of really good points. First, growth-based capitalism is like running on an ever accelerating treadmill. It's an inherently chaotic system we can't keep up with. Second, growth-based capitalism requires significant resource consumption, which is becoming problematic given the world's population and desire to emulate Western-lifestyles. Third, growth-based economics forces us to sacri...more

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Jan 20, 2012 John rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: ecology, politics

This is an important, serious but ultimately disappointing book. Important because it grapples with the vital task of how to redefine economics in a world of limited resources and an ever more damaged climate. Serious, because it approaches the task stage by stage, confronting some of the important issues which any change of this magnitude must face. But disappointing, because it still leaves us dangling, wondering exactly what a society which adopted this completely different set of objectives...more

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Nov 08, 2011 Todd Wheeler rated it 3 of 5 stars

A challenging book and one not easily accessible as a casual read. The premise is stated early on:
"The possibility that humans can flourish, achieve greater social cohesion, find higher levels of well-being, and still reduce their material impact on the environment is an intriguing one." p.47

Yes indeed. However, it takes most of the book to get to that point. The author spends a great deal of time debunking the current model of capitalistic growth used in many Western developed countries as well...more

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Sep 03, 2011 Jani-Petri rated it 3 of 5 stars

I actually read the pdf version that is online, but most likely the book is very similar. I think this was interesting and it is remarkable that it kept me reading even though I tend to lose patience with "degrowth" gospels (too naive, too coarse, poorly informed in some issues, too ideologically constrained and too convinced about the "Truth" even when ignorance is apparent). Jackson explains well why we need growth and discusses clearly what it might take to transform a society into a steady s...more

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Jul 30, 2011 Routledge Economics rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is a worthy addition to the roster of post-crisis "trade" economics books (see also Nouriel Roubini, Paul Mason, John Lanchester and others), concentrating as it does on the very concept that fostered economics as a discipline in the first place - that of resource scarcity.

There is now a considerable literature that argues for an alternative to Gross Domestic and Gross National Product as measures of wellbeing and this goes all the way back to Victor Anderson's Alternative Economics Indica...more

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Oct 04, 2010 getAbstract rated it 5 of 5 stars

Cogent argument for sustainable growth

Gross domestic product (GDP) is a common measure of economic growth. But GDP fails to account fully for the ecological damage that growth wreaks. By prioritizing economic growth, societies based on capitalism permit excessive consumption of oil and other finite natural resources. Growth promotion, for example, has led to an orgy of deregulation that is depleting vital resources and compromising air and water quality. One of the 21st century’s major challenge...more

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Jan 25, 2010 Guy rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: ecology, politics, socsci

Uninspiring.

The goal is worthy, of course. In a finite world nothing can grow larger for ever... neither lemming nor human population numbers, neither global oil production nor GDP. In our case the end of growth seems likely to come sooner rather than later, given that we are already in ecological overshoot, about to be confronted with peak fossil fuels, and with catastrophic climate change a few decades away if we continue with Business As Usual. So, we can either think about what growth is su...more Uninspiring.

The goal is worthy, of course. In a finite world nothing can grow larger for ever... neither lemming nor human population numbers, neither global oil production nor GDP. In our case the end of growth seems likely to come sooner rather than later, given that we are already in ecological overshoot, about to be confronted with peak fossil fuels, and with catastrophic climate change a few decades away if we continue with Business As Usual. So, we can either think about what growth is supposed to be good for, find ways to achieve the same ends by other means, and voluntarily and in a controlled manner stop growing, or we can charge blindly ahead until we drown, starve, or go over a cliff into steep decline.

I bought this book because I hoped it would provide some insight into what a world without growth would look like and how to manage the transition. And it sort of does, but not well. For a start, it reads like a report rather than a popular science book or a manifesto... it's a little dull. Secondly, although it does a reasonable job of identifying where the problems are today, it mostly fails to lay out clear and useful solutions to these problems, and those that it does provide tend, more often than not, to suffer from the same hybris as communism... to whit, that state bureaucracies can effectively micro-manage their economies and people. Indeed there is more than a whiff of Marxism here, with advocacy of state enterprises and dark hints of the necessity of "revisit the concepts of... asset ownership and control over the distribution of surpluses."

I'm not a radical free-marketeer, but neither do I think that communism has any useful answers. I'm basically a socialist, who believes that the role of government is to define the rules of the game and then to let market capitalism come up with optimal solutions. In order to transition to a sustainable future we need inspiring visions and pragmatic advice as to how to craft new green and sustainable rules to play by. Neither are easy to find in this book.(less)

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Dec 09, 2012 Brian rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

An important and much cited book on sustainability circles. However, it covers little new ground. Much is based on the Club of Rome's [i]Limits to Growth[/i], some of the modeling is based on Herman Daly's [i]Steady State Economy[/i], both 40 years old. Sure, he introduces new data and confirms that the same disturbing trends continue. There are a few relevant studies cited that show material wealth is not the same as happiness, and his summary of what really matters to people more than money dr...more An important and much cited book on sustainability circles. However, it covers little new ground. Much is based on the Club of Rome's [i]Limits to Growth[/i], some of the modeling is based on Herman Daly's [i]Steady State Economy[/i], both 40 years old. Sure, he introduces new data and confirms that the same disturbing trends continue. There are a few relevant studies cited that show material wealth is not the same as happiness, and his summary of what really matters to people more than money drives his point home. The political critique has a lot of bark and not much bite. Clearly he rejects anarcho-primitivism and revolution and bringing about a 'New Barbarism.' However, he fails to make a compelling case about how to overcome the political gridlock he identifies.

As someone who has worked as an editor, I am more sensitive to editing errors. Parts of the book read like copypasta and there appear to be omitted words in places that make the meaning obscure. An important book should not distract the reader with what appear to be copy editing errors. In parts it reads like a committee wrote it, and he acknowledges many contributors from the Sustainable Development Commission and workshops as the source material. I am not saying he plagiarized, but it looks like he did not polish his notes or carry the analysis further in places.

The policy recommendations are fairly standard and predictable: reforms in national income accounting, cap & trade on carbon emissions that are ratcheted down over time, public and private debt reduction, a tax to curb foreign currency speculation, investment in education and 'dismantling of the culture of consumerism.' I'm not opposed to any of the proposed reforms, but I think he does not go far enough. I would like to see taxation used as a policy tool. . In addition to a Tobin tax, I would like to see a carbon tax and a tax on pollutants, such as pesticides. However, I have no better path to overcome the political opposition to taxes as a way to restore fiscal sanity and correct market failures.

He declares where he wants to go is not Utopia. However, he fails to provide a guide of how to overcome the political opposition to the reforms that he acknowledges to be the problem.

In short, the book has a limited vision and can't even provide a good way to get there. Still, no bookshelf on current sustainability topics is complete without this book. The challenge is to come up with something better.(less)

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Mar 10, 2013 Duncan rated it 4 of 5 stars

In this book, Tim Jackson discusses the complete unsustainability of the current economic paradigm and the kind of changes that could put us back on track towards sustainability.

We live on a planet with finite resources. Known reserves of many fossil fuels, metals and minerals are running low - and our use of these resources is increasing quickly as the human population shoots up towards 9 billion and many of those people aspire to levels of affluence similar to those found in the Western world...more In this book, Tim Jackson discusses the complete unsustainability of the current economic paradigm and the kind of changes that could put us back on track towards sustainability.

We live on a planet with finite resources. Known reserves of many fossil fuels, metals and minerals are running low - and our use of these resources is increasing quickly as the human population shoots up towards 9 billion and many of those people aspire to levels of affluence similar to those found in the Western world. Those aren't the only problems though: atmospheric CO2 levels are rising to dangerous levels, the world's forests are being decimated, global fish stocks are collapsing, etc.

Jackson picks apart the delusional arguments from neoclassical economists about the likelihood of us being able to decouple economic growth from increases in the use of natural resources. He shows that increases in the efficiency with which we create wealth are extremely unlikely to be able to sufficiently counterbalance the rising global population and increasing affluence in the developing world, which are both rapidly pushing up the rate at which we are using the planet's supply of natural resources.

All of this demonstrates that our economic system is fundamentally unsustainable. Of course, many of us were already convinced of this idea. Where this book adds to the discussion is that the arguments and evidence are explained in detail. Laypeople like myself will benefit from this opportunity to take their understanding of the issue to a much deeper level.

One of the great strengths of this book is that it explains the relevant economic concepts and arguments in simple terms. For example, what exactly is GDP and how is it calculated? I didn't know before reading this book. And why is GDP growth taken by governments everywhere to be so crucial? The answer is that, under our current economic system, growth is required to maintain economic and social stability.

On top of this, there is a third problem: the power of the consumerist mindset, which sees people searching for social identity and competing for status by buying things they don't need. As it turns out, this mentality fails to serve our psychological needs adequately, and yet we are pushed to keep consuming because the economy depends on it.

So we have three key factors here: the growth-obsessed economy (along with rapidly growing global population) and consumption-obsessed consumer combine to guarantee that we are not living sustainably within our finite ecology.

Towards the end, we start moving towards specific suggestions about how we might deal with all of this. The author makes some brief suggestions for keeping our economic activity within ecological limits, for maintaining stability in an economy without growth, and for moving away from consumerism.

This is comfortably the weakest part of the book, though. It is clear that a great deal more research needs to be done on all three of these points. We are given a good deal of detail supporting the idea that many of us already know intuitively - i.e. that we are living unsustainably - but far less about how to move forward. How big an impact would Jackson's suggestions make? What would society look like? What would the impact be on our level of affluence? We don't know.

Still, it is an interesting and informative read for anyone interested in an economically-literate account of the major issues our global economy is facing. This book has left me feeling deeply worried about our future on this planet, but also sanguine that there may be a navigable middle road between proclaiming Armageddon and just ignoring it all in the hope that some amazing technological breakthrough will eventually come along to save us. (less)

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Jun 16, 2012 Paul rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: economics, political-science, environment

Although, as a longtime environmentalist, I'm a member of the choir that this author is preaching to, I found myself resisting much of what he was saying, and I certainly could not imagine that a gung-ho, pro-growth, climate-change skeptic would be moved by the arguments presented in this book. My main takeaway was the realization of just how far apart people can be who are supposedly on the same team.

For one thing I had problems with the style and presentation of the book. The heavy use of sent...more Although, as a longtime environmentalist, I'm a member of the choir that this author is preaching to, I found myself resisting much of what he was saying, and I certainly could not imagine that a gung-ho, pro-growth, climate-change skeptic would be moved by the arguments presented in this book. My main takeaway was the realization of just how far apart people can be who are supposedly on the same team.

For one thing I had problems with the style and presentation of the book. The heavy use of sentence fragments made me feel I was reading an expanded PowerPoint presentation, and the pervasive presence of weasel-words like clearly is a sign of the weakness of the supporting arguments.

I was frustrated with the author's fence-sitting. I was expecting to find, at a minimum, a clear alternative definition of prosperity, but this I did not get--at least, not that I can recall. Instead there were repeated statements to the effect that "our future idea of prosperity will have to include such things as . . ." But the author felt that coming down too definitely on exactly what should be done, or how, was beyond the scope of what one book--his book, anyway--could do.

Much of the book is concerned with providing suggestive evidence that alternative ways of measuring our economic activity and success are feasible. But too often, for my taste, this evidence consisted of the tentative findings of various social scientists, based on mushy things like opinion surveys. To me this is not "science" in any useful sense, for I have little doubt that, like expert witnesses in court cases, other soft scientists could be found to offer "evidence" supporting different or even contradictory conclusions. Only hard science--physics and chemistry--carry conviction, and there's very little of that in this book.

What was most troubling to me was the author's faith in government as the solution to our global ecological-economic crisis. My alarm bells first started ringing early on when the author says that although the bailouts of financial firms in the crisis of 2008 were used to fund multimillion-dollar bonuses for those firms' executives, "politicians had no choice but to intervene in the protection of the banking sector." This reader, for one, believes that politicians did have a choice. Can we possibly believe that there was no choice but to borrow billions of dollars in my name, and use it to reward their cronies for losing such stupendous sums of money?

The bold, visionary change needed to bring a new world economy into being will never arise from such feckless and fatalistic acceptance of government as it is currently practiced. As far as I can tell, governments are more responsible than anyone for the ecological harm that has been wrought on planet Earth. It is governments, after all, who subsidize Big Oil and pay people to destroy fisheries and mow down rainforests. Private interests, of course, could still accomplish these things, but not so quickly or so completely as when they receive government handouts to do so. Canada would still have a cod fishery if its government had not paid people to extirpate it. The idea that the Stephen Harper government in Canada might lead us toward a more ecologically responsible economics would make me laugh if it didn't fill me with such bleak hopelessness. Our governments rule us; they don't lead us. Our leaders--that is, the people we spontaneously wish to follow--will have to come from the grass roots.

This book was at its best and most interesting when the author was at his most wonkish. He spends time discussing GDP and the equations with which it's calculated. But although I found this interesting and informative, I don't think that a bold new "prosperity"-based economics can emerge from such technical futzing. "Maybe if we can tweak these equations a bit . . ."

My overall impression is that, although the author talks about vision, he sees and treats the question of changing the economic basis of our society as a technical one, to be solved ultimately by academics and bureaucrats. Even the attitudes of us consumers, which, according to the author, must fundamentally change, are really the responsibility of those same bureaucrats, who must construct the institutions and incentives that will cause the livestock, oops, citizens, to behave in the right way. Mr. Jackson sees a more thoroughly socialist society--one in which the evils of "capitalism", with its promotion of "consumerism" via an unpleasant thing called "novelty", have been overcome--as the most likely means of getting to the sustainable Earth we need to live on. In this view, a benign dictator or a benign oligarchy will shepherd us to the Promised Land of a prosperous, sustainable, socially leveled Earth.

Of course the author does not say that--not in so many words. But to me it is the necessary implication of a world in which the state is even bigger than it is today. As though our real problem were a lack of right-thinking technocrats. And if people won't stop their neurotic pursuit of "novelty", they will have to be forced--won't they?

Our future and our prosperity are not technical questions. They are questions of principle, of ideas; they are philosophical questions, and they need to be discussed at this level. We do need a new idea of prosperity, but that idea needs to be clear and definite, and it needs to be communicated with passion and conviction by men of vision and integrity--our future leaders, whoever and wherever they are. That was never the mission of this book, but this book could have been and should have been a stone for the sling of one of those leaders, and I'm afraid it just isn't.(less)

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Dec 14, 2011 Daniel rated it 4 of 5 stars

"What can prosperity look like in a finite world, with limited resources and a population expected to exceed 9 billion people within decades?" This is the question Tim Jackson seeks to explore in "Prosperity without Growth: Economics for a Finite Planet."

Tim Jackson gives an account of economic thinking in its present context, refutes arguments in favor of the status quo and provides a new sustainable economic model. Jackson explains that irreversible climate change is decades away and that an...more "What can prosperity look like in a finite world, with limited resources and a population expected to exceed 9 billion people within decades?" This is the question Tim Jackson seeks to explore in "Prosperity without Growth: Economics for a Finite Planet."

Tim Jackson gives an account of economic thinking in its present context, refutes arguments in favor of the status quo and provides a new sustainable economic model. Jackson explains that irreversible climate change is decades away and that an obsession with GDP growth has created a debt-fueled acceleration in spending to increase it, both by Governments trying to reach full employment and a culture of consumerism. This has produced a dilemma where continuous growth is needed to protect the same level of average incomes as population growth continues. However, this is ecologically unsustainable as "decoupling" (greater economic efficiency) will nowhere near provide the reductions in emissions needed by 2050. Jackson outlines a potential transition to a sustainable economy by establishing resource and emission limits, fixing the current economic model and changing the social logic that individuals and communities have today.

"Prosperity without Growth" provides a realistic account of climate change in the context of the world's economy current economic, ecological and financial situation. It vividly explains the self-destructive nature of politicians and economics obsession with growth in the context of impending climate change. It provides a very strong argument for current Governments to stimulate economic recovery by investing in a "Global Green New Deal." However, the realism of the book breaks down in the 2nd half when Jackson provides a way to transition to a sustainable economy.

The fundamental question economists have been trying to answer with climate change is how to do we reach an agreement among competitive economies and self-interested individuals to achieve specific outcomes? Jackson casually mentions reducing income inequality, agreeing on international emission limits and creating a completely new shift in culture with no convincing explanation as to how get key actors to implement these ideas in practice. (Hence the failures of virtually every climate summit.) Moreover, the book is too general in nature- the author's argument could have been strengthened if he could have segmented metrics and provided greater details. What percentage of growth is attributed to consumerism? What percentage attributed to necessities?

Overall, Prosperity Without Growth provides a compelling argument for a complete rethink of the economic culture that's been developed in the past two hundred years given the context of it's ecological impact. It provides a vision for what this future economic culture might look like, but doesn't provide a convincing way to reach it. (less)

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Oct 30, 2010 Teel rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: borrowed

Clearly not intended to be an inspiring, easy, or "popular" book (esp. re: pop culture, mainstream readers), but more a critical analysis of a set of problems most people, many economists, and far too many politicians & business leaders are either unaware of or trying desperately to ignore, Prosperity Without Growth is an invaluable starting point for a broad social and political discussion we, humanity, need to begin seriously having - and acting upon.

I personally had already internalized m...more

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Mar 13, 2010 Kate rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2010, political, environmental

A useful explanation of where humanity is going wrong with it's fulsome embrace of unlimited economic growth, but the solution was not fully explained and was not written in a particularly inspiring fashion. The problem is there, we really need a solution.

What would a transitional world look like, how could it operate, how can people still lead fulfilling lives without the economic treadmill of "more, more, more" consumption which isn't making us happier. Consumerism is like a drug or fast food....more

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Sep 16, 2012 Daniel Sepulveda rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book exposes a topic which should become increasingly prevalent in our everyday conversations. The way in which humankind should prosper is bound to change dramatically due to difficulties and natural boundaries which our forefathers did not take into account. However, an explosive increase in the human population, as well as increasing energy requirements are conforming a very uncomfortable overall picture of the environment we have come to deliver for ourselves and for the generations tha...more

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Apr 30, 2012 Bcbobe rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: public-policy-and-philosophy

This is a fantastic book. It really addresses major problems in society on both a policy level and psychological level. There are many deeper problems that Jackson avoids; however, I think that played to the book's advantage. He kept it simple and enjoyable while still identifying key issues in society: a society that creates materialistic citizens lacking in "prosperity" perpetuated by an economic system demanding growth. "An economy predicated on the perpetual expansion of debt-driven material...more

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Aug 29, 2010 Kaput rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2010, non-fiction, worth-reading

A bit repetitive but its basic message is clear. Current consumption driven growth is incompatible with our need to live within ecological limits. As individuals we receive conflicting messages as we are told of the need to reduce our carbon levels whilst more and more goods are foisted upon us. Also, we might not realise it but having more stuff has not made us more happy. Oh no, it has lead to greater inequality and alienated us from a sense of community.

Some of the statistics it uses to back...more A bit repetitive but its basic message is clear. Current consumption driven growth is incompatible with our need to live within ecological limits. As individuals we receive conflicting messages as we are told of the need to reduce our carbon levels whilst more and more goods are foisted upon us. Also, we might not realise it but having more stuff has not made us more happy. Oh no, it has lead to greater inequality and alienated us from a sense of community.

Some of the statistics it uses to back up this case are interesting. It suggests that less consumer obsessed communities report greater levels of happiness. That the most unhappy societies are the ones that have most embraced the liberalised market economy. Other statistics are more disturbing. One in particular suggests that in less than ten years from 2000-2010 we have already used a third of the allowance necessary to hit 2050 carbon reduction targets. In outlining the problems this book is strongest.

The solutions are a bit more hit and miss. It suggests we use a different measure for prosperity that is not so concerned with GDP. It highlights its inherent flaws as an indicator because it doesn't take account of environmental problems or human well being. An excellent idea and one that is already being developed.

It also believes that there needs to be a social revolution in order wean us from our addiction to materialism (I liked the fact that even though this book believes we need less consumerism it acknowledges the role it plays in giving us social identity). It suggests a reconnection with social goods (public spaces, libraries and community based activities) that are less energy intensive.

The economic feasibility of all this is more obscure. Do we need continuing economic growth to lead prosperous lives? Perhaps not but this book focuses mostly on local actions based around service activities to reduce our carbon output. I sincerely doubt the ideas put forth in this book for a new economy based around "farmers markets, sports clubs, craft workshops.." will lead to comfortable lives but it barely mentions anything else. There is nothing on how many markets are already becoming less resource intense - CD's, DVD's and even books can all be put in one place on one device - and it was quite disappointing that this was not expanded upon and made more credible.

All the more frustrating because currently I do believe we will struggle mightily to reach our targets for emissions reductions and we need bold ideas to achieve them.(less)

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Jan 30, 2013 Leland Beaumont rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

We are already at or near the ecological limits to growth of our magnificent planet. At the same time the economies of affluent nations, as presently conceived, require continuous growth to avoid collapse into recession and high unemployment. Tim Jackson’s book Prosperity without Growth, examines this paradox in detail and presents a path toward its resolution.

A first step is to examine our definitions of prosperity. A shift away from prosperity pursued as opulence — constantly acquiring new mat...more

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Aug 10, 2011 Justin rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: climate-change, ecology, sustainable-economics

The message is clear and irrefutable. However I found myself often wishing Jackson's book was longer, as it seems to me that in many key areas the details are missing. I realise it was never intended to be a manual to *operationalise* a steady-state economy founded within ecological limits, but I fear that the book will not be terribly convincing for those who aren't already nodding their heads in agreement. Nonetheless, an important and urgently needed work, clearly pointing the direction we ne...more

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Dec 25, 2012 Cedric Jean-marie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Recommended to Cedric by: Vance Chow

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and have a lot of respect for the authors ability to illustrate his various insights in ways that make the subject matter quite clear without ever going into too much detail as to repeat himself infinitely which can be the case in these types of books.

This book is in my opinion perfectly constructed where often the last subject feeds into the next thus building upon all the previous material as to give you a great understanding of the big picture of developing an e...more

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Jul 30, 2011 Rob rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is a worthy addition to the roster of post-crisis "trade" economics books (see also Nouriel Roubini, Paul Mason, John Lanchester and others), concentrating as it does on the very concept that fostered economics as a discipline in the first place - that of resource scarcity.

There is now a considerable literature that argues for an alternative to Gross Domestic and Gross National Product as measures of wellbeing and this goes all the way back to Victor Anderson's Alternative Economics Indica...more

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Aug 28, 2011 Terence rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: economics

“And I am a weapon of massive consumption / And it’s not my fault it’s how I’m programmed to function,” “The Fear,” Lily Allen

NB: I have taken advantage of the “spoiler” tag to append notes and asides that don’t directly bear on this review. The reader may open them or not as he or she pleases.

Coming as it does on the heels of Derrick Jensen’s Endgame: Volume 1: The Problem of Civilization and Herman Daly’s Beyond Growth: The Economics of Sustainable Development, reading Tim Jackson’s Prosperity...more

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Jan 21, 2013 Sam rated it 5 of 5 stars

If you've ever heard that the planet has more people on it than it can support, we are running out of global resources, or that the problems of poverty and climate change cannot both be solved at once, this is an excellent book to read. It quantitatively shows how we cannot rely on some factors some economists use to dismiss the issues, such as productivity and efficiency improvements, or carbon decoupling.

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Jul 07, 2011 Alice rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: environmental, non-fiction, favorites

Finally! This book should be required reading in Business and Public Policy programs. The author presents a credible alternative to our current growth-obsessed system. Novelty and individualism are not gods. We need a better balance - and the author provides a compelling vision for how our lives could be better if we acheived it. Of course, I still think the U.S. is hopeless; we're so ideologically driven that large segments of the population would automatically close their minds to any discussi...more

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Jul 02, 2012 Diane rated it 5 of 5 stars

Excellent framing of the economic/ecological world situation, with straightforward suggestions for how to achieve equitable creation and distribution of material necessities, changing employment patterns to become more service based and realizing that unceasing economic growth does not work to the advantage of the earth (and its organisms!), as there is a finite resource base.

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Jul 25, 2011 Ian added it

Shelves: environment

It was better at building a strong argument against our faith in technology driving gains in carbon efficiency as the solution to overcome ecological limits, than at offering coherent solutions for a viable alternative to our growth and consumption driven economy. How can we dismantle the cycle of continuous growth without destabilising modern society - the book offers a starting point for further research, since we don't seem to have the faintest idea at this point.

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Jan 05, 2010 John Clark marked it as to-read

Recommended to John by: Treehugger

I saw this reviewed on Treehugger today. After seeing Albert Bartlett's lecture on the dangers of sustained growth, I'm very interested in the concept presented by this book, so I've reserved it from my library.

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Mar 06, 2013 Dimitris Tselios rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ecology, economy

A very good book with many many data supporting its arguments. Quite strong and convincing on the need for societies to become more cooperative, equal and supportive of social freedom. Lacking analysis of the political situation meaning the split of power within societies. This is the main bottleneck. Governments just reflect that political reality, only a small fraction of the whole society possessing the ultimate power that is money. This bottleneck is also reflected in their unwillingness to...more

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Jan 26, 2011 G rated it 4 of 5 stars

Very good introduction of the economic aspects of sustainability. clear explanation of the unsustainable aspects of our current economic system. we are bounded by material/ecological limits, which conflicts with a system dependent upon continual growth for survival and "prosperity". while the explanation of the problems are clear and well explained, the proposed solutions are less expounded upon. alternatives - prosperity without growth - is dependent upon understanding ecological limits, fixing...more

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Dec 25, 2012 bbbbbbrr rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The obsession of local and national government, society and economists with perpetual, indefinite growth (population and economically) has bothered me for a long time. There are to main reasons of concern. First, it will subject an already stressed natural environment to further pressure, and also because it seems (mathematically) intractable for growth to go on perpetually. ut if growth stops, what then?This book digs into the topic in a fairly serious, detailed and analytic manner. There are a...more

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