How modern economics has failed us and why we need a new measure of progress To fuel our economic growth, we scrape the planet of its resources, laying waste to more than we build. We do this to satisfy our desire for consumption, tospend ever more. To finance this, many people have borrowed more than they should. So millions have become burdened by debts, income inequalities have widened and many governments owe more than they can ever repay. All this is the fault of modern economic thinking. Wrong-headed economics was the cause of the financial crisis. It has brought us a mountain of debt. It has encouraged us towaste the world's resources without much thought for the consequences. It is behind the rise in individualism and the weakening of many democratic principles. It is the cause of over-population. It has provided China and many other developing countries with a dream that cannot come true. It has even warped ourideas of charity, social responsibility and progress. Without a re-think, we face the end of growth. We face the end of progress. We face more poverty, greater conflict and rising ill-health. Life-expectancies will fall, as will standards of living. In the US and Europe, healthcare, savings and pension promises will be broken. In Africa, Asia and the Middle East hopes for development will not be met. Tensions between peoples will grow. We need to ditch many modern economic ideas. Notions about the free-market, competition, regulation and trade need to be reconsidered. We need a different measure of progress. We needto put ourselves, our societies, back at the core of what we want to achieve.In this thought-provoking, lively and entertaining book, Graeme Maxton looks at what brought us to this position and how we can shine some light onto the path ahead. INDICE: Introduction. Chapter 1: It's about you and me. We live in an Age of Endarkenment. Our economic, social and political systems are broken. Our societies are laden with debt. Our planet is being gouged clean of its resources. Nature and technology are being exploited for profit not social advancement.We face difficult challenges unless we change. Part 1: Our belief in the free-market has failed us. Chapter 2: Too much choice, too little restraint. Modern economics is no longer functioning properly. In the last 30 years, like somepoisoned gene, it has mutated. It is in desperate need of a rethink, repair and reform. Chapter 3: A failed financial system. The West's financial system is broken. A hunger for excessive profit, too much debt and regulatory failureshave caused problems which will affect us all and take decades to fix. Chapter 4: Squandering the world's resources. Our natural resources are under valued, encouraging us to squander them. We face shortages, rationing and conflict unless we change. Chapter 5: A warped value of progress. An obsession with growth, consumption and short-term gain has warped Western ideas of social progress, freedom and democracy. Part 2: Running blind we are poorly equipped to dealwith these challenges. Chapter 6: We have been dumbed-down. Our societies arenot thinking deeply enough about these issues. The rising influence of religion, dumbed-down education systems and the Internet are moving us backwards, toa time before The Enlightenment. Chapter 7: Nightmares rather than dreams guide our world. Overblown fears of terrorism, global warming and disease constrain us. Technology is used to distract us, monitor us and direct us. We need toreverse the tide. Chapter 8: China's rising influence on society will not help. We face a clash of values between Asia and the West which risks worsening the failures of the Western-world. Part 3: The implications of these failures will be hard unless we change. Chapter 9: We risk becoming financially poorer. Developed-world consumers need to stop spending, pay back what they owe and live within their means. China risks a slowdown, inflation and instability. Japan faces bankruptcy. Chapter 10: Our way of life will change. We need to cut our resource use. Without immediate solutions to the coming energy shortages ourway of life will have to change. Chapter 11: We will become less healthy. Notenough water, food and medicine, overstretched and under-funded healthcare systems and ageing populations in China, Japan and the West mean falling health standards. Chapter 12: We will need to diffuse threats of conflict. We risk battles over ideology, resource use and debt. Human rights, democracy and equality will become less important. Unless we change, developing countries will be unable to industrialise. Part 4: Light in the Age of Endarkenment. Chapter 13:We need to change. Western economies need to shrink back until they are viable. Resources need to be priced properly. Our
- ISBN: 978-0-470-82998-1
- Editorial: John Wiley & Sons
- Encuadernacion: Cartoné
- Páginas: 256
- Fecha Publicación: 25/07/2011
- Nº Volúmenes: 1
- Idioma: Inglés