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Small is Still Beautiful: Economics as if Families Mattered
A third of a century ago, E. F. Schumacher rang out a timely warning against the idolatry of giantism with his book Small Is Beautiful . Schumacher, a highly respected economist and adviser to third-world governments, broke ranks with the accepted wisdom of his peers to warn of impending calamity if rampant consumerism, technological dynamism, and economic expansionism were not checked by human and environmental considerations.
Joseph Pearce revisits Schumacher’s arguments and examines the multifarious ways in which Schumacher’s ideas themselves still matter. Faced though we are with fearful new technological possibilities and the continued centralization of power in large governmental and economic structures, there is still the possibility of pursuing a saner and more sustainable vision for humanity. Bigger is not always best, Pearce reminds us, and small is still beautiful.
Humanity was lurching blindly in the wrong direction, argued Schumacher. Its obsessive pursuit of wealth would not, as so many believed, ultimately lead to utopia but more probably to catastrophe. Schumacher's greatest achievement was the fusion of ancient wisdom and modern economics in a language that encapsulated contemporary doubts and fears about the industrialized world. The wisdom of the ages, the perennial truths that have guided humanity throughout its history, serves as a constant reminder to each new generation of the limits to human ambition.
But if this wisdom is a warning, it is also a battle cry. Schumacher saw that we needed to relearn the beauty of smallness, of human-scale technology and environments.
Joseph Pearce revisits Schumacher’s arguments and examines the multifarious ways in which Schumacher’s ideas themselves still matter. Faced though we are with fearful new technological possibilities and the continued centralization of power in large governmental and economic structures, there is still the possibility of pursuing a saner and more sustainable vision for humanity. Bigger is not always best, Pearce reminds us, and small is still beautiful.
Humanity was lurching blindly in the wrong direction, argued Schumacher. Its obsessive pursuit of wealth would not, as so many believed, ultimately lead to utopia but more probably to catastrophe. Schumacher's greatest achievement was the fusion of ancient wisdom and modern economics in a language that encapsulated contemporary doubts and fears about the industrialized world. The wisdom of the ages, the perennial truths that have guided humanity throughout its history, serves as a constant reminder to each new generation of the limits to human ambition.
But if this wisdom is a warning, it is also a battle cry. Schumacher saw that we needed to relearn the beauty of smallness, of human-scale technology and environments.
357 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2000
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About the author
Joseph Pearce
183 books297 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author with this name on GR
Joseph Pearce (born 1961) is an English-born writer, and as of 2004 Writer in Residence and Professor of Literature at Ave Maria University in Ave Maria, Florida; previously he had a comparable position, from 2001, at Ave Maria College in Ypsilanti, Michigan. He is known for a number of literary biographies, many of Catholic figures. Formerly aligned with the National Front, a white nationalist political party, he converted to Roman Catholicism in 1989, repudiated his earlier views, and now writes from a Catholic perspective. He is a co-editor of the St. Austin Review and editor-in-chief of Sapientia Press.
Joseph Pearce (born 1961) is an English-born writer, and as of 2004 Writer in Residence and Professor of Literature at Ave Maria University in Ave Maria, Florida; previously he had a comparable position, from 2001, at Ave Maria College in Ypsilanti, Michigan. He is known for a number of literary biographies, many of Catholic figures. Formerly aligned with the National Front, a white nationalist political party, he converted to Roman Catholicism in 1989, repudiated his earlier views, and now writes from a Catholic perspective. He is a co-editor of the St. Austin Review and editor-in-chief of Sapientia Press.
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October 22, 2021
ENGLISH: A revision, 33 years later, of the book Small Is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered, by Ernest Schumacher.
In the first chapter, Pearce discusses the use of Gross National Product (GNP) as a measure of economic growth, showing some inconsistencies in its use (which had been pointed out by Alvin Toffler in 1979), and considers the fact that all economic transactions are only quantified by their monetary equivalent, without taking into account whether they are good or bad. For instance, an increment in drug-addiction would give rise to an increase in GNP.
Chapter 9 is called "Making democracy democratic." Here Pearce discusses the possibility of a world government, and signals several dangers of such a concept.
The book is somewhat repetitive for those who have read Schumacher's book, because there are many quotes, some quite long.
ESPAÑOL: Revisión, 33 años después, del libro Lo pequeño es hermoso, cuyo autor fue Ernest Schumacher.
En el primer capítulo, Pearce analiza el uso del Producto Nacional Bruto (PNB) como medida del crecimiento económico, mostrando algunas inconsistencias en su uso (señaladas por Alvin Toffler en 1979), y considera el hecho de que todas las transacciones económicas se cuantifican por su equivalente monetario, sin tener en cuenta si son buenas o malas. Por ejemplo, un aumento de la adicción a las drogas daría lugar a un incremento del PNB.
En el capítulo 9, "Democratizar la democracia", Pearce analiza la posibilidad de un gobierno mundial y señala varios peligros de tal idea.
El libro es algo repetitivo para quien ha leído el libro de Schumacher, porque está plagado de citas, algunas bastante largas.
In the first chapter, Pearce discusses the use of Gross National Product (GNP) as a measure of economic growth, showing some inconsistencies in its use (which had been pointed out by Alvin Toffler in 1979), and considers the fact that all economic transactions are only quantified by their monetary equivalent, without taking into account whether they are good or bad. For instance, an increment in drug-addiction would give rise to an increase in GNP.
Chapter 9 is called "Making democracy democratic." Here Pearce discusses the possibility of a world government, and signals several dangers of such a concept.
The book is somewhat repetitive for those who have read Schumacher's book, because there are many quotes, some quite long.
ESPAÑOL: Revisión, 33 años después, del libro Lo pequeño es hermoso, cuyo autor fue Ernest Schumacher.
En el primer capítulo, Pearce analiza el uso del Producto Nacional Bruto (PNB) como medida del crecimiento económico, mostrando algunas inconsistencias en su uso (señaladas por Alvin Toffler en 1979), y considera el hecho de que todas las transacciones económicas se cuantifican por su equivalente monetario, sin tener en cuenta si son buenas o malas. Por ejemplo, un aumento de la adicción a las drogas daría lugar a un incremento del PNB.
En el capítulo 9, "Democratizar la democracia", Pearce analiza la posibilidad de un gobierno mundial y señala varios peligros de tal idea.
El libro es algo repetitivo para quien ha leído el libro de Schumacher, porque está plagado de citas, algunas bastante largas.
August 30, 2018
Small is Beautiful: A Study As If People Mattered is an interesting collection of essays where economist and author E.F. Schumacher asserts that the modern day economies are propelled by the greed of corporate houses rather than the model of need based society. The book argues that the inconsiderate need of the corporate houses to make more profits is fed into the economies by making societies inculcate the habit of excessive consumption of material resources. The resultant consumerism leads to exploitation of natural resources which overbears their utilization and becomes exploitative in nature leading to unsustainable balance not only in nature but also in societal set up like increased unemployment and poverty.
The book opens with the epilogue emphasizing on the philosophy of materialism not to be superseded by the ideals of justice, harmony, beauty and health.
In line with the above underlined assertion the book is bifurcated into four parts - The Modern World, Resources, The Third World, and Organization and Ownership.
The book under The Modern World explains how the western economies have increasing become consumerist with sole aim of profit making and the shift of personal values to increased materialism, both of which mark the modern economy as unsustainable. Under Resources the book goes on to state the nature of natural resources by explaining that natural resources are neither infinite nor renewable and therefore their depletion is eventual. It asserts that due to its exhaustible nature the natural resources should be treated as capital in economic terms rather than expendable income as opposed to the present scenario which is leading to natural resources unmindful and unsustainable exploitation. Under the Third World the book states that as natural resources as exhaustible so is nature’s resistance to pollutants of limited capacity. Stating that the western economies race to increase its Gross Domestic Product will increase the unemployment and poverty across the globe and most hit by this phenomenon will be the Third World i.e. countries whose economies are still developing. The book asserts that the western economies efforts towards sustainable development like technology transfer to Third World economies is only a small step and such initiative is not capable of solving the issue of unsustainability at large in the economies. It argues that technologies transferred to Third World countries is capital incentive and as it replaces the labor incentive technology it increases unemployment and poverty in the Third World economies. The book reflects author Schumacher’s philosophy of enoughness under Organization and Ownership which advocates the acknowledging the need of society to exploit natural resources and as well as limitations of use proper technology. The philosophy of enoughness emerged from the study of village based economies undertaken by Schumacher later termed as Buddhist economics. Schumacher’s philosophy is influenced by the Buddhist and Gandhian ideologies about community, Roman concept of scale and Catholic understanding of distribution. The book disagrees with the aim of making profit as the basic principle of any organization and lays emphasis on employees being given more freedom and shares in the organization. Author Schumacher was one of the first economists to propound that GDP is not the appropriate measure of human well-being emphasizing that “the aim ought to be to obtain the maximum amount of well being with the minimum amount of consumption”.
The book intrigues and challenges the conventional modern day notion of growth is good and bigger is better. The book also challenges the appropriateness of mass production by Third World economies which Schumacher argues should be promoting production by masses which would be more appropriate for its economy addressing the underlined two issues of developing economies that is unemployment and poverty.
Small is Beautiful is a classic book which even after so many years of publication (1973) still holds to be aptly fitting the economic, social and environmental aspects of managing corporate houses.
Review written jointly by
Manisha Badoni
Ayushman Kheterpal and
Abhilasha Bharti
From TERI University
The book opens with the epilogue emphasizing on the philosophy of materialism not to be superseded by the ideals of justice, harmony, beauty and health.
In line with the above underlined assertion the book is bifurcated into four parts - The Modern World, Resources, The Third World, and Organization and Ownership.
The book under The Modern World explains how the western economies have increasing become consumerist with sole aim of profit making and the shift of personal values to increased materialism, both of which mark the modern economy as unsustainable. Under Resources the book goes on to state the nature of natural resources by explaining that natural resources are neither infinite nor renewable and therefore their depletion is eventual. It asserts that due to its exhaustible nature the natural resources should be treated as capital in economic terms rather than expendable income as opposed to the present scenario which is leading to natural resources unmindful and unsustainable exploitation. Under the Third World the book states that as natural resources as exhaustible so is nature’s resistance to pollutants of limited capacity. Stating that the western economies race to increase its Gross Domestic Product will increase the unemployment and poverty across the globe and most hit by this phenomenon will be the Third World i.e. countries whose economies are still developing. The book asserts that the western economies efforts towards sustainable development like technology transfer to Third World economies is only a small step and such initiative is not capable of solving the issue of unsustainability at large in the economies. It argues that technologies transferred to Third World countries is capital incentive and as it replaces the labor incentive technology it increases unemployment and poverty in the Third World economies. The book reflects author Schumacher’s philosophy of enoughness under Organization and Ownership which advocates the acknowledging the need of society to exploit natural resources and as well as limitations of use proper technology. The philosophy of enoughness emerged from the study of village based economies undertaken by Schumacher later termed as Buddhist economics. Schumacher’s philosophy is influenced by the Buddhist and Gandhian ideologies about community, Roman concept of scale and Catholic understanding of distribution. The book disagrees with the aim of making profit as the basic principle of any organization and lays emphasis on employees being given more freedom and shares in the organization. Author Schumacher was one of the first economists to propound that GDP is not the appropriate measure of human well-being emphasizing that “the aim ought to be to obtain the maximum amount of well being with the minimum amount of consumption”.
The book intrigues and challenges the conventional modern day notion of growth is good and bigger is better. The book also challenges the appropriateness of mass production by Third World economies which Schumacher argues should be promoting production by masses which would be more appropriate for its economy addressing the underlined two issues of developing economies that is unemployment and poverty.
Small is Beautiful is a classic book which even after so many years of publication (1973) still holds to be aptly fitting the economic, social and environmental aspects of managing corporate houses.
Review written jointly by
Manisha Badoni
Ayushman Kheterpal and
Abhilasha Bharti
From TERI University
December 3, 2019
Fair critique of large scale corporatism and giant industry, but it appears the author could fair well by reading some Bastiat about things “unseen” in the economy.
December 30, 2011
This book helps work through some practical attributes of distributism. Pearce does a good job of making the reader think. At first I was turned off by the amount of environmentalism seemingly portrayed by the author, but upon further thought the point of the environmental talk is not that the world is more important than people, but that people are stewards of the world and it is unjust for one group of people to consume and damage the world for others. Love thy neighbor includes not throwing garbage in their yard. Breaking the economy down into smaller pieces; placing the responsibility in the hands of the individual and family will restore economics to its proper place: that of being in service to the human person.
May 23, 2013
The basic premise of this book is that there is no such thing as a purely economic problem because economics deals with human beings and a world with finite resources. Economic problems cannot be solved using purely economic methods. Material wealth cannot compensate humans for (in Tawney's words) "arrangements which insult their self-respect and impair their freedom," nor can it fix irreparable harm done to the world we need to sustain us. All good points!
That said, this is not well written. This is basically a series of quotes, some several pages long, linked by Pearce's hamhanded* prose. The quotes themselves were part of the problem for me: for any one economics professor or real world example, there are two quotes from Catholic popes or GK Chesterton. To give Pearce some credit, I'm clearly not the target audience for this book. He makes few arguments of his own, but these few are all based entirely on Catholic doctrine, which I don't care about. And his points about economics not counting the true impact and cost of industry, the harm of the the WTO, IMF, and World Bank's neocolonialism, big businesses influencing governments and people instead of the other way round--I already knew all of this, generally with far more nuance and depth than he presented. I assume this book is for the Catholics out there who haven't yet done any research or thought into economics. For everyone else, this isn't useful or, for that matter, all that readable.
*Here's one I just came across: "[Mansholt's Plan] has begotten the desert it deserves. The soul of the soil has been sold for cash, and farmer Faustus is left to reap the bitter harvest."
That said, this is not well written. This is basically a series of quotes, some several pages long, linked by Pearce's hamhanded* prose. The quotes themselves were part of the problem for me: for any one economics professor or real world example, there are two quotes from Catholic popes or GK Chesterton. To give Pearce some credit, I'm clearly not the target audience for this book. He makes few arguments of his own, but these few are all based entirely on Catholic doctrine, which I don't care about. And his points about economics not counting the true impact and cost of industry, the harm of the the WTO, IMF, and World Bank's neocolonialism, big businesses influencing governments and people instead of the other way round--I already knew all of this, generally with far more nuance and depth than he presented. I assume this book is for the Catholics out there who haven't yet done any research or thought into economics. For everyone else, this isn't useful or, for that matter, all that readable.
*Here's one I just came across: "[Mansholt's Plan] has begotten the desert it deserves. The soul of the soil has been sold for cash, and farmer Faustus is left to reap the bitter harvest."
September 28, 2007
As much as I wanted to like this book, I couldn't. I think it mostly had to do with Mr. Pierce not being a compelling writer. He incorporates too many statistics making it hard to read and the only thing I got out of the book is that everything causes cancer.
I'm currently reading the original Schumacher book. It's a lot more readable but I agree with it less - though I can see where he's coming from.
I'm currently reading the original Schumacher book. It's a lot more readable but I agree with it less - though I can see where he's coming from.
January 19, 2009
Eye opening approach to economics. Let's hear it for Distributism!
March 16, 2015
I found this very helpful in thinking about out hunger for scale, efficiency and consumerism. This is a modern defence of distributism. Small, local and human are the themes.
September 10, 2021
3.5 stars. Much of this book just quoted from Schumacher's book, which better summarized it than refreshed it at first. However, "Small is Still Beautiful" got better as it went along and Pearce included more real-world examples. He discussed micro-brewing, updated Schumacher's coverage of cooperative businesses, dove into the discourse about GMOs (which I believe he's not completely correct about) and organic food, and more. Each of these supported his arguments and Schumacher's too.
Pearce adequately updates Schumacher's insights for more modern times, presenting a good framework for eco-friendly conservatism, distributism, and decentralism writ large. He addresses each of Schumacher's subjects from "Small is Beautiful", meaning the book covers a wide range of topics from appropriate technology to renewable energy to economism. When Pearce brings his own insights to the book, the argument becomes much stronger. Notably, he incorporates insights from Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, one of his own favorite authors. The consonance between such different authors, one a darling mainly of the new left (Schumacher) and the other a darling of the post-liberal right (Solzhenitsyn) is fascinating and speaks to something shared in the metaphysics of each author. On a similar note, the last chapter, 'Begin Here', was my favorite. In it, Pearce examines the metaphysical foundations of Schumacher's (and his) paradigms. In particular, he excoriates arrogant hyper-individualism: "The modern world denies the existence of sin in theory while indulging it with enthusiasm in practice" (301), "the deadly sins of Christianity have become the deadly virtues of consumerism" (307). Ending on this firey note was powerful. I wish his stronger arguments surfaced more consistently throughout the work.
Pearce adequately updates Schumacher's insights for more modern times, presenting a good framework for eco-friendly conservatism, distributism, and decentralism writ large. He addresses each of Schumacher's subjects from "Small is Beautiful", meaning the book covers a wide range of topics from appropriate technology to renewable energy to economism. When Pearce brings his own insights to the book, the argument becomes much stronger. Notably, he incorporates insights from Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, one of his own favorite authors. The consonance between such different authors, one a darling mainly of the new left (Schumacher) and the other a darling of the post-liberal right (Solzhenitsyn) is fascinating and speaks to something shared in the metaphysics of each author. On a similar note, the last chapter, 'Begin Here', was my favorite. In it, Pearce examines the metaphysical foundations of Schumacher's (and his) paradigms. In particular, he excoriates arrogant hyper-individualism: "The modern world denies the existence of sin in theory while indulging it with enthusiasm in practice" (301), "the deadly sins of Christianity have become the deadly virtues of consumerism" (307). Ending on this firey note was powerful. I wish his stronger arguments surfaced more consistently throughout the work.
January 15, 2018
Before I read this book I identified as a Distributist. Not hyperbole. It's really that bad.
August 21, 2025
Enjoyed the book; an update to Schumacher’s “Small is Beautiful” with the continuing focus on economics with an importance to human beings and the environment.
August 12, 2024
cidália silva eu amei relembrar te que este livro existe
February 25, 2016
This is an update of E.F. Schumacher's famous 1973 book "Small is Beautiful." While I don't think you need to have read that book in order to get a lot of good from this work, it's helpful to read it, because it was a seminal work in its time and its great to see the resonance of those ideas a generation or two removed.
Pearce makes a compelling case that we are truly screwing things up when it comes to economics, technology, our food supply, our environment, and how we treat our fellow humans, especially at a time when we have so much potential to get these things right.
Important quotes from the book:
"The accelerating depletion of the earth's finite resources to meet ever-expanding demands for energy and consumer goods has no foreseeable end." p. 7
"They have forgotten that it is not the quantity of things possessed by the quality of life lived that matters." p. 25
"...the developed world should be called the overdeveloped world." p. 36
"Trade, which is in its nature a secondary or dependent thing, has been treated as a primary and independent thing; as an absolute. The moderns, mad upon mere multiplication, have even made a plural out of what is essentially singular, in the sense of single. They have taken what all ancient philosophers called the Good, and translated it as Goods." p. 42, quoting G.K. Chesterton
"The stark reality is that the average American uses 33 times as much energy as the average Indian and almost 150 times as much as the average person in Bangladesh." p. 45
"Global free trade has become an unquestionable moral dogma enshrined at the heart of modern economic theory...it is possible, even likely, that the globalization of trade will destabilize the industrialized world while at the same time exacerbating the problems facing the developing world." p. 51
"The very suggestion that there can be infinite growth in a finite space with finite resources is an obvious absurdity. Yet there can be no reduction in growth and no sustainable future for as as long as the distinction between need and desire is deliberately disregarded for the sake of corporate gain." p. 70
"...a growing awareness of the fact that one cannot use with impunity the different categories of beings, whether living or inanimate - animals, plants, the natural elements - simply as one wishes, according to one's own economic needs." p. 81
"...the main danger to the soil, and therewith not only to agriculture but to civilization as a whole, stems from the townsman's determination to apply to agriculture the principles of industry." p. 155, quoting Schumacher
"Techno-man, devoid of any metaphysical understanding, knows how to do things without knowing why or whether they should be done. We do them because we can, not because we should." p. 279
"There can be no solutions to the world's problems until their causes are properly understood." p. 288
It's not a long read, and well worth your time.
Pearce makes a compelling case that we are truly screwing things up when it comes to economics, technology, our food supply, our environment, and how we treat our fellow humans, especially at a time when we have so much potential to get these things right.
Important quotes from the book:
"The accelerating depletion of the earth's finite resources to meet ever-expanding demands for energy and consumer goods has no foreseeable end." p. 7
"They have forgotten that it is not the quantity of things possessed by the quality of life lived that matters." p. 25
"...the developed world should be called the overdeveloped world." p. 36
"Trade, which is in its nature a secondary or dependent thing, has been treated as a primary and independent thing; as an absolute. The moderns, mad upon mere multiplication, have even made a plural out of what is essentially singular, in the sense of single. They have taken what all ancient philosophers called the Good, and translated it as Goods." p. 42, quoting G.K. Chesterton
"The stark reality is that the average American uses 33 times as much energy as the average Indian and almost 150 times as much as the average person in Bangladesh." p. 45
"Global free trade has become an unquestionable moral dogma enshrined at the heart of modern economic theory...it is possible, even likely, that the globalization of trade will destabilize the industrialized world while at the same time exacerbating the problems facing the developing world." p. 51
"The very suggestion that there can be infinite growth in a finite space with finite resources is an obvious absurdity. Yet there can be no reduction in growth and no sustainable future for as as long as the distinction between need and desire is deliberately disregarded for the sake of corporate gain." p. 70
"...a growing awareness of the fact that one cannot use with impunity the different categories of beings, whether living or inanimate - animals, plants, the natural elements - simply as one wishes, according to one's own economic needs." p. 81
"...the main danger to the soil, and therewith not only to agriculture but to civilization as a whole, stems from the townsman's determination to apply to agriculture the principles of industry." p. 155, quoting Schumacher
"Techno-man, devoid of any metaphysical understanding, knows how to do things without knowing why or whether they should be done. We do them because we can, not because we should." p. 279
"There can be no solutions to the world's problems until their causes are properly understood." p. 288
It's not a long read, and well worth your time.
May 26, 2012
I can't remember when exactly I read this book, and I should have written a review right away, because a lot of it has faded from my mind. This is a book that I will probably read again sometime. I like a lot of Pearce's ideas, and his commentary on the economic effects of the EU were interesting. I am not sure that I am on board with some of his environmental concerns, but that is more the case of a disagreement about the facts, not a disagreement about the principles. I am still struggling with the value of small business vs. large business, and how much/what kinds of regulation will result in a healthy market.
January 2, 2014
I'm glad to have been introduced to E.F. Schumacher - each quote of his embodied simple wisdom (and Pearce quoted him liberally). He laid bare the basic truths which have been ignored by the consumerist culture of the West, and for which we are paying and will pay dearly. I came away with a stronger conviction to work toward human-sized economy and a better idea of how it looks.
July 9, 2014
Thought-provoking and approachable book on economics!
October 20, 2015
Well written, but doesn't hold up against the times as well as the original has.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews