Is more economic
growth the solution? Will it deliver prosperity and well-being for a global
population projected to reach nine billion? In this explosive book, Tim
Jackson, a top sustainability adviser to the UK government, makes a compelling
case against continued economic growth in developed nations.
No one denies that
development is essential for poorer nations. But in the advanced economies
there is mounting evidence that ever-increasing consumption adds little to
human happiness and may even impede it. More urgently, it is now clear that the
ecosystems that sustain our economies are collapsing under the impacts of
rising consumption. Unless we can radically lower the environmental impact of
economic activity – and there is no evidence to suggest that we can –
we will have to devise a path to prosperity that does not rely on continued
growth.
Economic heresy? Or an
opportunity to improve the sources of well-being, creativity and lasting
prosperity that lie outside the realm of the market? Tim Jackson provides a
credible vision of how human society can flourish within the ecological limits
of a finite planet. Fulfilling this vision is simply the most urgent task of
our times.
