What do you think?
Rate this book
The Growth Illusion: How Economic Growth Has Enriched the Few, Impoverished the Many, and Endangered the Planet
How Economic Growth Has Enriched the Few, Impoverished the Many, and Endangered the Planet, Richard Douthwaite.
- GenresEconomics
332 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 1993
3 people are currently reading
28 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
October 8, 2012
It is a very long time since I read this book, but it left a big impact on me, as did The Great Depression of 1990 by Ravi Batra. Sometimes it feels as if one is expected to either believe that unrestrained capitalism will solve all of the world's ills or to be a Marxist calling for state control of the means of production. But, as with so many things, sanity exists in the middle ground between these two positions.
You would think that it would be unnecessary to point out that an economic system which requires that we consume ever-increasing quantities of goods made from finite natural resources while putting non-biodegradable and sometimes toxic waste back into the natural environment is eventually going to reach the limits of the carrying capacity of the planet. Nor would you think it was necessary to point out that, since money is the life-blood of an economy, an organisation of that system which leads to an increasing concentration of money in some parts and a depletion of money in other parts is not going to prove to be a robust economic system. If we had, lets say, 50 times as much blood in our head as we have in our feet we would have some pretty serious, probably fatal, health problems.
At a time when politicians are seriously arguing that the way to recover from the economic crisis is to cut taxes to the rich and decrease welfare spending, books like this need to be very widely read.
You would think that it would be unnecessary to point out that an economic system which requires that we consume ever-increasing quantities of goods made from finite natural resources while putting non-biodegradable and sometimes toxic waste back into the natural environment is eventually going to reach the limits of the carrying capacity of the planet. Nor would you think it was necessary to point out that, since money is the life-blood of an economy, an organisation of that system which leads to an increasing concentration of money in some parts and a depletion of money in other parts is not going to prove to be a robust economic system. If we had, lets say, 50 times as much blood in our head as we have in our feet we would have some pretty serious, probably fatal, health problems.
At a time when politicians are seriously arguing that the way to recover from the economic crisis is to cut taxes to the rich and decrease welfare spending, books like this need to be very widely read.
Displaying 1 of 1 review