The Great Delusion: A Mad Inventor, Death in the Tropics, and the Utopian Origins of Economic Growth

by Steven Stoll

Endless economic growth rests on a belief in the limitless abundance of the natural world. But when did people begin to believe that societies should—even that they must—expand in wealth indefinitely? In The Great Delusion , the historian and storyteller Steven Stoll weaves past and present together through the life of a strange and brooding nineteenth-century German engineer and technological utopian named John Adolphus Etzler, who pursued universal wealth from the inexhaustible forces of nature: wind, water, and sunlight. The Great Delusion neatly demonstratesthat Etzler’s fantasy has become our reality and that we continue to live by some of the same economic assumptions that he embraced. Like Etzler, we assume that the transfer of matter from environments into the economy is not bounded by any condition of those environments and that energy for powering our cars and iPods will always exist. Like Etzler, we think of growth as progress, a turn in the meaning of that word that dates to the moment when a soaring productive capacity fused with older ideas about human destiny. The result is economic growth as we know it, notas measured by the gross domestic product but as the expectation that our society depends on continued physical expansion in order to survive.

Genres: Economics, Nonfiction, History, Sociology

224 pages, Hardcover

First published September 2, 2008

Reviews

[Mark Isaak · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stoll explores the intellectual history of the idea of economic growth. In parallel, he gives a biography of John Adolphus Etzler, an idealistic inventor who embodies many of the ideas, as does the tragic end of his endeavors. The biography added a story to what might otherwise be mostly philosophical exposition, but Etzler is such an insignificant figure in the history of the idea, and the text strayed from the biography so often anyway (years of Etzler's life are unknown), that this sometimes felt like two different books.

[Celine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Now here's a controversial (if not fresh) idea - unending growth as a modern myth at the service of the capitalist system, trying to save itself from self-destruction and to overcome its internal contradictions. This book is clearly not going to make it into the top 20 bestsellers in economic and financial circles - nor is it going to go down in history as a major piece of economic writing. The chapters on Etzler's ventures in South America drag on a bit too long without really bringing anything to the argumentation, yet the book manages to totally upset the contemporary framework in which we think about growth, progress, economic and social development and the environment. Disturbing - could have been revolutionary if the author had drawn a correct conclusion from his findings instead of wrapping up his theory on itself.

[Stephen Dranger · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book, more than anything, highlights the emphasis practicality needs in any intellectual venture. The book was written to show that assumptions in organized society can be harmful, and I think it also shows an important part of that is the necessity of proving your ideas before putting them into practice. It also succeeds in making a convincing argument of the larger theory that we cannot live in growth forever, or at least that, if we want to live in growth forever, that significant work will need to be done.

[Laurel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great concepts! Could have been a several-page paper/article and I may have enjoyed it more.

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mark loved this book, but I couldn't get into it. I wanted to, but it never grabbed me. I gave up after 50 pages -- life's too short.