What's the Economy For, Anyway?: Why It's Time to Stop Chasing Growth and Start Pursuing Happiness

Be the first to write a review

All Available Formats + Editions

——

$12.11

Paperback

——

$12.11

What's the Economy For, Anyway?: Why It's Time to Stop Chasing Growth and Start Pursuing Happiness Pub. Date: 10/2/2012 Publisher: Bloomsbury USA
$5.69

$16.87

Hardcover

$5.69

$16.87

What's the Economy For, Anyway?: Why It's Time to Stop Chasing Growth and Start Pursuing Happiness Pub. Date: 11/8/2011 Publisher: Bloomsbury USA

Want to read this on your NOOK? Request as NOOK Book from the publisher

Thank you for requesting this book as a NOOK book from the publisher.

Customers Who Bought This Also Bought

Advertising

Overview

In this funny, readable, and thought-provoking book based on the popular film of the same name, activists John de Graaf (coauthor of the bestselling Affluenza) and David Batker tackle thirteen economic issues, challenging the reader to consider the point of our economy. Emphasizing powerful American ideals, including teamwork, pragmatism, and equality, de Graaf and Batker set forth a simple goal for any economic system: The greatest good for the greatest number over the longest run. Drawing from history and current enterprises, we see how the good life is achieved when people and markets work together with an active government to create a more perfect economy-one that works for everyone.

Beginning by shattering our fetish for GDP, What's the Economy For, Anyway? offers a fresh perspective on quality of life, health, security, work-life balance, leisure, social justice, and perhaps most important, sustainability. This sparkling, message-driven book is exactly what those lost in the doldrums of partisan sniping and a sluggish economy need: a guide to what really matters, and a map to using America's resources to make the world a better place.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

Following their documentary of the same name, De Graaf (coauthor of Affluenza) and Batker, director of Earth Economics, a firm that provides ecological economic analysis, pose a provocative question: what is the economy for if not to maximize the well-being of the citizenry? Seen in this light, GDP becomes a woefully inadequate tool for assessing economic health. Using the claim of Gifford Pinchot, first chief of the Forest Service, that we should strive for “the greatest good for the greatest number over the longest run,” the authors argue that not only are we not on the right track, we’re hardly in the race. De Graaf and Batker draw upon various indices for measuring individual and collective satisfaction and security including Maslow’s Pyramid and the Chilean economist Manfred Max-Neef’s taxonomy of human needs. They make a strong case for looking toward Europe and pockets of economic sustainability within America, to take “bold action” to reorient our markets to serve human needs, to build a “solidarity economy... capitalism with a human face.” De Graaf and Batker’s criticisms—of big business, taxation, American universities, Obama’s response to the financial meltdown—are lucid; what comes as a pleasant surprise is that their solutions are no less clear and actionable. (Nov.)

Kirkus Reviews

A stimulating approach to the economy, which puts people and their needs ahead of money-based indicators of growth and performance.

De Graaf, coordinator of the Seattle Area Happiness Initiative (co-author: Affluenza: The All-Consuming Epidemic, 2005) and Batker, a fellow at the Gund Institute for Ecological Economics at the University of Vermont, examine new ways to think about economic processes, specifically as they relate to human happiness and well-being. The authors show that the indicators of performance developed during World War II—the "Gross National Product"—have become both obscurantist and counterproductive. They argue that human purposes and needs ought to provide the basis for much more broadly based measures of performance, which would consider what is the greatest good and benefit for the greatest number of people over the longest period of time. The authors have been involved with efforts to establish such approaches through the Seattle project and the Bhutan "Gross National Happiness Indicator," both of which are based on measuring the satisfaction of human needs, like food, shelter, clothing, health care, education and those related to the quality of individual and community life. De Graaf and Batker compare these approaches with legislative and social initiatives in countries like the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany, where such approaches are made priorities. For example, since 1981 in Holland, it has been a requirement that part-time workers be treated exactly the same as full-time workers. The authors counter the insistence of U.S. conservatives that the redistribution of wealth merely shifts money from rich to poor; they demonstrate that society's resources as a whole are increased through added capabilities that enrich everyone's lives.

An entertaining presentation of important ideas and information about how lives could be improved.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781608195107
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA
Publication date: 11/8/2011
Pages: 304
Sales rank: 240,566
Product dimensions: 6.40 (w) x 9.30 (h) x 1.20 (d)

Meet the Author

John de Graaf is the national coordinator of Take Back Your Time, an organization challenging time poverty and overwork in the U.S. and Canada (see www.timeday.org) and a frequent speaker on issues of overwork and over-consumption in America. John is the co-author of the best-selling Affluenza: The All-Consuming Epidemic. David Batker is a fellow of the Gund Institute for Ecological Economics at the University of Vermont. He is the director of Earth Economics, a firm which provides ecologically-oriented economic analysis.

Customer Reviews

Be the first to write a review

( 0 )

Rating Distribution

5 Star

(0)

4 Star

(0)

3 Star

(0)

2 Star

(0)

1 Star

(0)

Your Rating:

Review Guidelines

Tell the world what you think of this product.

Add Recommendations

Your Name: Create a Pen Name or Leave Anonymously

Barnes & Noble.com Review Rules

Our reader reviews allow you to share your comments on titles you liked, or didn't, with others. By submitting an online review, you are representing to Barnes & Noble.com that all information contained in your review is original and accurate in all respects, and that the submission of such content by you and the posting of such content by Barnes & Noble.com does not and will not violate the rights of any third party. Please follow the rules below to help ensure that your review can be posted.

Reviews by Our Customers Under the Age of 13

We highly value and respect everyone's opinion concerning the titles we offer. However, we cannot allow persons under the age of 13 to have accounts at BN.com or to post customer reviews. Please see our Terms of Use for more details.

What to exclude from your review:

Please do not write about reviews, commentary, or information posted on the product page. If you see any errors in the information on the product page, please send us an email.

Reviews should not contain any of the following:

- HTML tags, profanity, obscenities, vulgarities, or comments that defame anyone
- Time-sensitive information such as tour dates, signings, lectures, etc.
- Single-word reviews. Other people will read your review to discover why you liked or didn't like the title. Be descriptive.
- Comments focusing on the author or that may ruin the ending for others
- Phone numbers, addresses, URLs
- Pricing and availability information or alternative ordering information
- Advertisements or commercial solicitation

Reminder:

- By submitting a review, you grant to Barnes & Noble.com and its sublicensees the royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable right and license to use the review in accordance with the Barnes & Noble.com Terms of Use.
- Barnes & Noble.com reserves the right not to post any review -- particularly those that do not follow the terms and conditions of these Rules. Barnes & Noble.com also reserves the right to remove any review at any time without notice.
- See Terms of Use for other conditions and disclaimers.

If you find inappropriate content, please report it to Barnes & Noble

What's the Economy For, Anyway?: Why It's Time to Stop Chasing Growth and Start Pursuing Happiness

Pick Up in Store

Overview

All Available Formats + Editions

Customers Who Bought This Also Bought

More About This Book

Overview

Related Subjects

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

Kirkus Reviews

Product Details

Meet the Author

Customer Reviews

Rating Distribution

5 Star

4 Star

3 Star

2 Star

1 Star

Your Rating:

Your Recommendations:

Barnes & Noble.com Review Rules

Reviews by Our Customers Under the Age of 13

What to exclude from your review:

Reviews should not contain any of the following:

Reminder:

Recommend other products that relate to your review. Just search for them below and share!