Download or read book Economics for a Post Material Future written by Douglas E. Booth and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2015-09 with total page 202 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When asked, most people could say something about their personal philosophy-those beliefs and values that guide them on their path through life. In their theorizing and empirical work, economists normally assume that we humans make choices in the world for the purpose of maximizing our well-being. The philosophies behind our choices rarely get much traction in economic research beyond the idea of maximization itself. This I believe to be mistaken. Beliefs and values indeed influence the choices we make, economic and otherwise. My contention in the pages ahead is that shifts in personal philosophies matter and can fundamentally alter economic arrangements and outcomes. We may seek to maximize our well being, but our notion of what this means shifts with time and circumstances. What's of importance to us today may not be so tomorrow. To make my point in this book, I will describe a fundamental value shift underway globally and explore actual and potential economic changes flowing from it. This shift amounts to a weakening of an orientation to simple economic materialism and a strengthening of interest in more complex qualitative accomplishments and experiences that don't always require an expansion in private possessions. For economic materialists, the essential human purpose is the accumulation of material possessions even if basic biological survival is well assured. Economic materialists see the gaining of power, pleasure, status, social intercourse, creative accomplishment, and spirituality as heavily dependent on what one owns and privately consumes. Life is all about possessing and consuming, and little else. For post-materialists, access to material goods matters but is secondary to a life of meaning defined by a value-driven personal philosophy. The essential difference between materialism and post-materialism is one of emphasis. In the first case, the human psyche focuses on acquiring material possessions, and in the second it shifts to concern with not only the experiences of life but also the realization of an array of human values as the final source of meaning. In this shift we move further away from a basic quantitative and biological orientation to the satisfaction of physical needs and toward a qualitative satisfaction of wants for mental experiences. We in effect move from dwelling almost entirely on the material hardware of life to an expanded interest in its qualitative software. My essential purpose in this book is to review the evidence for a post-materialist value trend and to then establish and explain the economic changes flowing from it. My basic conclusion will be that personal philosophical outlooks have economic consequences. The future economy in a post-material world will feature such changes as these: more flexible working hours and shorter workweeks; a return to downtown living; an expanded clean energy sector and greenhouse gas emissions reductions; a substantial shift from acquisition of material possessions to more shared experiences and a rising demand for shared public goods; an activist fiscal policy to sustain employment in the face of weakening private sector consumption; and more expansive economic democracy and employee ownership. This vision looks like a political liberal's dream and a political conservative's worse nightmare. I could easily be wrong about its realization, but let me explain to you in this book why I think I am right. Then you can judge.
Download or read book The Economic Growth Engine written by Robert U. Ayres and published by Edward Elgar Publishing. This book was released on 2010-01-01 with total page 435 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It gives me great pleasure to review this important book. I recommend it highly to any physicist with an interest or curiosity about this economy thing within which we operate. . . There is no excuse not to get this invaluable volume onto your bookshelf. Simon Roberts, Institute of Physics Energy Group This book addresses a very important topic, namely economic growth analysis from the angle of energy and material flows. The treatment is well balanced in terms of research and interpretation of the broader literature. The book not only contains a variety of empirical indicators, statistical analyses and insights, but also offers an unusually complete and pluralistic view on theorizing about economic growth and technological change. This results in a number of refreshing perspectives on known ideas and literatures. The text is so attractively written that I found it very difficult to stop reading. All in all, this is a very original and important contribution to the everlasting debate on growth versus environment. Jeroen C.J.M. van den Bergh, University of Barcelona, Spain and Free University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands Would you want your great-grandchildren in 2100AD to have a 22nd-century industrial economy? If so, read this book to grasp how strongly wealth depends on energy and its efficient use. Start treating fossil energy not as continuing income, but as one-time energy capital to spend on efficiency and long-term sustainable energy production. Otherwise, your descendants will inherit a broken 20th-century economy that only worked with cheap fossil fuels. They will not be rich and they will wonder what their ancestors were thinking. John R. Mashey, PhD, former Chief Scientist, Silicon Graphics Current economic theory attributes most income growth to technical progress. However, since technical progress can neither be defined nor measured, no one really knows what policies will encourage income growth. Ayres and Warr show that access to useful work, which can be defined and measured, explain the bulk of post-1900 income changes in Japan, Britain and the USA. They see rising real prices for fossil fuel and stagnating efficiencies of converting raw energy into useful work as a threat to continued income growth. This brilliant and original work has profound policy implications for future income growth without significant improvements in energy conversion efficiency. Thomas Casten, Chairman, Recycled Energy Development LLC Following the up-and-down energy shock of 2008, Ayres and Warr offer a unique analysis critical to our economic future. They argue that useful work produced by energy and energy services is far more important to overall GDP growth than conventional economic theory assumes. Their new theory, based on extensive empirical and theoretical analysis, has important implications for economists, businessmen and policymakers for anybody concerned with our economic future. Ayres and Warr argue persuasively that economic growth is not only endogenous but has been driven for the past two centuries largely by the declining effective cost of energy. If their new theory is correct, the inevitable future rise of the real cost of energy (beyond the $147 oil price peak in July 2008), could halt economic growth in the US and other advanced countries unless we dramatically improve energy with technology. J. Paul Horne, independent international market economist The historic link between output (GDP) growth and employment has weakened. Since there is no quantitively verifiable economic theory to explain past growth, this unique book explores the fundamental relationship between thermodynamics (physical work) and economics. The authors take a realistic approach to explaining the relationship between technological progress, thermodynamic efficiency and economic growth. Their findings are a step toward the integration of neo-classical and evolutionary perspectives on endogenous economic growth, concluding in a fundam
Download or read book Postcapitalism written by Paul Mason and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2016-02-09 with total page 369 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Originally published in 2015 by Allen Lane, an imprint of Penguin Random House, Great Britain"--Title page verso.
Download or read book History of the Future of Economic Growth written by Iris Borowy and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2017-02-24 with total page 215 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The future of economic growth is one of the decisive questions of the twenty-first century. Alarmed by declining growth rates in industrialized countries, climate change, and rising socio-economic inequalities, among other challenges, more and more people demand to look for alternatives beyond growth. However, so far these current debates about sustainability, post-growth or degrowth lack a thorough historical perspective. This edited volume brings together original contributions on different aspects of the history of economic growth as a central and near-ubiquitous tenet of developmental strategies. The book addresses the origins and evolution of the growth paradigm from the seventeenth century up to the present day and also looks at sustainable development, sustainable growth, and degrowth as examples of alternative developmental models. By focusing on the mixed legacy of growth, both as a major source of expanded life expectancies and increased comfort, and as a destructive force harming personal livelihoods and threatening entire societies in the future, the editors seek to provide historical depth to the ongoing discussion on suitable principles of present and future global development. History of the Future of Economic Growth is aimed at students and academics in environmental, social, economic and international history, political science, environmental studies, and economics, as well as those interested in ongoing discussions about growth, sustainable development, degrowth, and, more generally, the future.
Download or read book Creating Alternative Futures written by Hazel Henderson and published by Cliffs Notes. This book was released on 1980 with total page 442 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Future of Capitalism written by Paul Collier and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2018-12-04 with total page 369 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Bill Gates's Five Books for Summer Reading 2019 From world-renowned economist Paul Collier, a candid diagnosis of the failures of capitalism and a pragmatic and realistic vision for how we can repair it. Deep new rifts are tearing apart the fabric of the United States and other Western societies: thriving cities versus rural counties, the highly skilled elite versus the less educated, wealthy versus developing countries. As these divides deepen, we have lost the sense of ethical obligation to others that was crucial to the rise of post-war social democracy. So far these rifts have been answered only by the revivalist ideologies of populism and socialism, leading to the seismic upheavals of Trump, Brexit, and the return of the far-right in Germany. We have heard many critiques of capitalism but no one has laid out a realistic way to fix it, until now. In a passionate and polemical book, celebrated economist Paul Collier outlines brilliantly original and ethical ways of healing these rifts—economic, social and cultural—with the cool head of pragmatism, rather than the fervor of ideological revivalism. He reveals how he has personally lived across these three divides, moving from working-class Sheffield to hyper-competitive Oxford, and working between Britain and Africa, and acknowledges some of the failings of his profession. Drawing on his own solutions as well as ideas from some of the world’s most distinguished social scientists, he shows us how to save capitalism from itself—and free ourselves from the intellectual baggage of the twentieth century.
Download or read book The Work of the Future written by David H. Autor and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2022-06-21 with total page 189 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why the United States lags behind other industrialized countries in sharing the benefits of innovation with workers and how we can remedy the problem. The United States has too many low-quality, low-wage jobs. Every country has its share, but those in the United States are especially poorly paid and often without benefits. Meanwhile, overall productivity increases steadily and new technology has transformed large parts of the economy, enhancing the skills and paychecks of higher paid knowledge workers. What’s wrong with this picture? Why have so many workers benefited so little from decades of growth? The Work of the Future shows that technology is neither the problem nor the solution. We can build better jobs if we create institutions that leverage technological innovation and also support workers though long cycles of technological transformation. Building on findings from the multiyear MIT Task Force on the Work of the Future, the book argues that we must foster institutional innovations that complement technological change. Skills programs that emphasize work-based and hybrid learning (in person and online), for example, empower workers to become and remain productive in a continuously evolving workplace. Industries fueled by new technology that augments workers can supply good jobs, and federal investment in R&D can help make these industries worker-friendly. We must act to ensure that the labor market of the future offers benefits, opportunity, and a measure of economic security to all.
Download or read book A Future Beyond Growth written by Haydn Washington and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-04-14 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There is a fundamental denial at the centre of why we have an environmental crisis – a denial that ignores that endless physical growth on a finite planet is impossible. Nature provides the ecosystem services that support our civilisation, thus making humanity unavoidably dependent upon it. However, society continues to ignore and deny this dependence. A Future Beyond Growth explores the reason why the endless growth economy is fundamentally unsustainable and considers ways in which society can move beyond this to a steady state economy. The book brings together some of the deepest thinkers from around the world to consider how to advance beyond growth. The main themes consider the deep problems of the current system and key aspects of a steady state economy, such as population; throughput and consumerism; ethics and equity; and policy for change. The policy section and conclusion bring together these various themes and indicates how we can move past the growth economy to a truly sustainable future. This volume will be of great interest to students and scholars of economics, sustainability and environmental studies in general.
Download or read book A Future Uncertain written by Gregg David and published by CreateSpace. This book was released on 2015-09-30 with total page 704 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Can market capitalism deal with the greatest problems of our age? How do we navigate through the end of oil, the expansion of human population and the looming risks of climate change? If market capitalism is ill-suited for these tasks, then what kind of economics can take its place? These are amongst the most pertinent and difficult questions that can be asked of human civilisation, yet political discourse and institutional economics resolutely blinker out such fundamental reservations, instead opting to champion increasingly abstract economic growth at the centre of their policies. A Future Uncertain tackles these questions head on, and forcefully deconstructs the taboo and folklore that surrounds economic thought. This groundbreaking work applies a multi-disciplinary approach, encompassing ecology, heterodox economics, sociology and emergent currency technologies, in order to assess the global market capitalist paradigm's applicability for modern human society, and prescribe alternative thought processes for future economic frameworks.
Download or read book Inventing the Future written by Nick Srnicek and published by Verso Books. This book was released on 2015-11-17 with total page 358 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This major new manifesto offers a “clear and compelling vision of a postcapitalist society” and shows how left-wing politics can be rebuilt for the 21st century (Mark Fisher, author of Capitalist Realism) Neoliberalism isn’t working. Austerity is forcing millions into poverty and many more into precarious work, while the left remains trapped in stagnant political practices that offer no respite. Inventing the Future is a bold new manifesto for life after capitalism. Against the confused understanding of our high-tech world by both the right and the left, this book claims that the emancipatory and future-oriented possibilities of our society can be reclaimed. Instead of running from a complex future, Nick Srnicek and Alex Williams demand a postcapitalist economy capable of advancing standards, liberating humanity from work and developing technologies that expand our freedoms. This new edition includes a new chapter where they respond to their various critics.
Download or read book Materials for a Sustainable Future written by Trevor M. Letcher and published by Royal Society of Chemistry. This book was released on 2012 with total page 829 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Aimed at students, lecturers, researchers, and policy makers, this work describes current developments and points the way forward for new developments regarding materials in our society and how they relate to sustainability.
Download or read book Reset written by Philipp Kristian Diekhöner and published by World Scientific Publishing Company. This book was released on 2021 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Builds a bridge spanning from the origins of organized civilization, technology and human collaboration to recent events leading up to the current crisis and the inevitability of change emerging from it, as well as a probable near and far future for global society Connects the academic and practical worlds of economic, psychology, anthropology, trend and innovation research and application like never before, weaving one red thread that culminates into deeper and more genuine understanding of why things are the way they are, and how they will evolve post COVID-19 Walks the tightrope between a study material usable e.g. in the author's Executive Education Course on Innovation & Corporate Transformation with Singapore Management University, as a read for boards and senior executives in need of fresh approaches to the Future of Work, Economy and Business at large, and as an intriguing excursion into a realistic future palatable to anyone interested in future trends, technology, industry 4.0, gen Y&Z and the digital age"--
Download or read book Capitalism without Capital written by Jonathan Haskel and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2018-10-16 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Early in the twenty-first century, a quiet revolution occurred. For the first time, the major developed economies began to invest more in intangible assets, like design, branding, and software, than in tangible assets, like machinery, buildings, and computers. For all sorts of businesses, the ability to deploy assets that one can neither see nor touch is increasingly the main source of long-term success. But this is not just a familiar story of the so-called new economy. Capitalism without Capital shows that the growing importance of intangible assets has also played a role in some of the larger economic changes of the past decade, including the growth in economic inequality and the stagnation of productivity. Jonathan Haskel and Stian Westlake explore the unusual economic characteristics of intangible investment and discuss how an economy rich in intangibles is fundamentally different from one based on tangibles. Capitalism without Capital concludes by outlining how managers, investors, and policymakers can exploit the characteristics of an intangible age to grow their businesses, portfolios, and economies.
Download or read book The Superorganism written by Bert Holldobler and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2009 with total page 556 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Pulitzer Prize-winning authors of "The Ants" render the extraordinary lives of the social insects--ants, bees, wasps, and termites--in this visually spectacular volume. 110 color and 100 black-and-white illustrations.
Download or read book Trekonomics written by Manu Saadia and published by Inkshares. This book was released on 2016-05-31 with total page 269 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Manu Saadia has managed to show us one more reason, perhaps the most compelling one of all, why we all need the world of Star Trek to one day become the world we live in." — Chris Black, Writer and Co-Executive Producer, Star Trek: Enterprise What would the world look like if everybody had everything they wanted or needed? Trekonomics, the premier book in financial journalist Felix Salmon's imprint PiperText, approaches scarcity economics by coming at it backwards — through thinking about a universe where scarcity does not exist. Delving deep into the details and intricacies of 24th century society, Trekonomics explores post-scarcity and whether we, as humans, are equipped for it. What are the prospects of automation and artificial intelligence? Is there really no money in Star Trek? Is Trekonomics at all possible?
Download or read book Four Futures written by Peter Frase and published by Verso Books. This book was released on 2016-10-11 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Capitalism is going to end Peter Frase argues that increasing automation and a growing scarcity of resources, thanks to climate change, will bring it all tumbling down. In Four Futures, Frase imagines how this post-capitalist world might look, deploying the tools of both social science and speculative fiction to explore what communism, rentism, socialism and exterminism might actually entail. Could the current rise of real-life robocops usher in a world that resembles Ender’s Game? And sure, communism will bring an end to material scarcities and inequalities of wealth—but there’s no guarantee that social hierarchies, governed by an economy of “likes,” wouldn’t rise to take their place. A whirlwind tour through science fiction, social theory and the new technologies already shaping our lives, Four Futures is a balance sheet of the socialisms we may reach if a resurgent Left is successful, and the barbarisms we may be consigned to if those movements fail.
Download or read book Change the Story Change the Future written by David C. Korten and published by ReadHowYouWant. This book was released on 2015-02 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: We humans live by stories, says David Korten, and the stories that now govern our society set us on a path to certain self - destruction. In this profound new book, Korten shares the results of his search for a story that reflects the fullness of human knowledge and understanding and provides a guide to action adequate to the needs of our time. Korten calls our current story Sacred Money and Markets. Money, it tells us, is the measure of all worth and the source of all happiness. Earth is simply a source of raw materials. Inequality and environmental destruction are unfortunate but unavoidable. Although many recognize that this story promotes bad ethics, bad science, and bad economics, it will remain our guiding story until replaced by one that aligns with our deepest understanding of the universe and our relationship to it. To guide our path to a viable human future, Korten offers a Sacred Life and Living Earth story grounded in a cosmology that affirms we are living beings born of a living Earth itself born of a living universe. Our health and well - being depend on an economy that works in partnership with the processes by which Earth's community of life maintains the conditions of its own existence - and ours. Offering a hopeful vision, Korten lays out the transformative impact adopting this story will have on every aspect of human life and society.
