How is it that with so much wealth, so many people are so desperate? So unhappy? So stressed and strapped for time? Vanishing jobs, benefits, and retirement don’t help. Where’s the progress in that? How do we compete more aggressively? By paying people a dollar a day? Or by producing and consuming even more stuff?
Just what is “the economy”? What’s it for? Is it working for us, or are we working for it? can it work better? We’d better hope so. We’d better make it so.
What’s the Economy For, Anyway?
Why It’s Time to Stop Chasing Growth and Start Pursuing Happiness
by David K. Batker, John de Graaf
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.