A cold, hard look at how modern economics has failed us and why we need a new measure of progress Modern economics has fallen short. It has widened the gap between rich and poor. It has not allocated the world's resources fairly. It has brought the West to the brink of financial ruin. It has placed short-term gain before long-term progress. And it has made us focus on the individual, not the society. The end result is a worldwide financial crisis of epic proportions and a planet being scraped clean of the resources needed by future generations, and things are only getting worse. In The End of Progress: How Modern Economics Has Failed Us popular economist Graeme Maxton looks at what went wrong, and what we can do to get ourselves back on track.
During the Age of Enlightenment society flourished, propelled by the wonder of new discoveries, radical ideas for economic and social development, and a sense that we all had a responsibility to improve our world. It's time to get back to those ideals, step back and examine our values, and work out what humankind really needs.
- Presents a chilling look at our current financial system along with a compelling argument for what we need to change
- Argues for new measures of progress that emphasize what really matters, not personal greed
- Offers a timely look at our broken society and where we're headed next
A thought-provoking, informative book, The End of Progress looks at what got us into our present mess, and shines light onto the road ahead.
Table of Contents:
Acknowledgments xiii 1 It’s About You—You Are Responsible Too 1
Part 1 Our Belief in The Free Market Failed Us 9
2 Too Much Choice, Too Little Restraint 11
Fetch the Tool Box 11
Economics Is Not Rocket Science: It Is Not Even Science 16
How Has Economics Failed Us? Let Me Count the Ways 17
A DVD Player Should Cost More than Lunch 19
For Richer and Poorer 20
3 A Broken Financial System 23
Consumption, Not Love, Was the Drug 23
How Far Is Down? 26
Consumer Debt 27
Bank Debt 32
Government Debt 39
4 Squandering Our World 47
Who Owns the World’s Resources? 47
You Don’t Like These Principles? I Have Others 50
We’ll Know What It’s Worth When It’s Gone 51
Our Rare Earth 52
Seven Billion into Water Won’t Go 54
Laissez-Faire, No Thanks 55
5 The Damaging Power of Me 61
Me, Myself, I 61
The Retreat of Conservatism 63
Kiasu. Bless You 64
Greed Is Not Good, Gordon 65
Part 2 Running Blind—We Are Poorly Equipped to Deal with These Challenges 69
6 Can You Read Kant? 71
Don’t Start from Here 71
Well, Duh! 74
Going My Way? 78
7 Who Is in Charge? 81
Someone Needs to Make Decisions 81
Nothing Is Terrible Except Fear Itself 83
Man Is Born Free but Everywhere Is in Chains 84
Who Is in Charge? 89
8 China’s Rising Influence Will Not Help 93
It Can Get Worse 93
The Dragon Is Awake 94
Of Privileges and Principles 96
There Is Anger Too 100
Be Careful What You Wish For 104
Playing for Power 106
Part 3 The Implications of These Failures Will Be Hard 117
9 We Will Become Financially Poorer 119
But Answers Are Easy, Aren’t They? 120
The Long Tail 121
All Comes Tumbling Down 123
Goodbye Stimulus Packages, Hello Savage State Cutbacks 125
More Air Will Not Work 128
You Need Another Hole in That Belt 129
10 Our Way of Life Will Change 133
In the Energy Battles, No One Will Play Nicely 134
When You Are in a Hole, Keep Digging 138
Shine Some Light on the Problem 146
11 We Will Become Less Healthy 151
How Much Oil Is in That Salad? 154
I’ll Give the Scalpel a Wipe Then 158
Was That a Cough? 159
The Buzz Has Gone 162
12 We Need to Diffuse the Threats of Conflict 169
We Do Things Differently, Don’t You See? 171
The Cupboard Will Soon Be Bare 174
But You Promised! 180
Climate Change Will Bring Threats of Confl ict Too 182
Part 4 Light in an Age of “Endarkenment” 185
13 We Need to Change 187
You Just Need a New Washer, Mate 188
14 Other Options Need Debate 203
From Progress to Poverty 203
Give the Flowers the Power 204
That Pip Squeak? 207
15 You. You Have a Role Now Too 219
Index 223
