The Growth Delusion: The Wealth and Well-Being of Nations - Hardcover

Pilling, David

4.07

1,382 ratings by Goodreads

9781408893708: The Growth Delusion: The Wealth and Well-Being of Nations

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1408893703 ISBN 13: 9781408893708

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2018

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A revelatory and entertaining book about the pitfalls of how we measure our economy and how to correct them, by an award-winning editor of The Financial Times'A near miracle' Ha-Joon Chang, author of 23 Things They Don't Tell You About CapitalismIn The Growth Delusion, author and prize-winning journalist David Pilling explores how economists and their cult of growth have hijacked our policy-making and infiltrated our thinking about what makes societies work. Our policies are geared relentlessly towards increasing our standard measure of growth, Gross Domestic Product. By this yardstick we have never been wealthier or happier., So why doesn't it feel that way? Why are we living in such fractured times, with global populism on the rise and wealth inequality as stark as ever?In a book that is simultaneously trenchant, thought-provoking and entertaining, Pilling argues that we need to measure our successes and failures using different criteria. While for economic growth, heroin consumption and prostitution are worth more than volunteer work or public services, in a rational world we would learn how to value what makes economies better, not just what makes them bigger. So much of what is important to our wellbeing, from clean air to safe streets and from steady jobs to sound minds, lies outside the purview of our standard measure of success., We prioritise growth maximisation without stopping to think about the costs. In prose that cuts through the complex language so often wielded by a priesthood of economists, Pilling argues that our steadfast loyalty to growth is informing misguided policies - and contributing to a rising mistrust of experts that is shaking the very foundations of our democracy.

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Product Description:

SHORTLISTED FOR THE ORWELL PRIZE FOR POLITICAL WRITING 2019

'A near miracle' Ha-Joon Chang, author of 23 Things They Don't Tell You About Capitalism

In The Growth Delusion, author and prize-winning journalist David Pilling explores how economists and their cult of growth have hijacked our policy-making and infiltrated our thinking about what makes societies work. Our policies are geared relentlessly towards increasing our standard measure of growth, Gross Domestic Product. By this yardstick we have never been wealthier or happier. So why doesn't it feel that way? Why are we living in such fractured times, with global populism on the rise and wealth inequality as stark as ever?

In a book that is simultaneously trenchant, thought-provoking and entertaining, Pilling argues that we need to measure our successes and failures using different criteria. While for economic growth, heroin consumption and prostitution are worth more than volunteer work or public services, in a rational world we would learn how to value what makes economies better, not just what makes them bigger. So much of what is important to our wellbeing, from clean air to safe streets and from steady jobs to sound minds, lies outside the purview of our standard measure of success. We prioritise growth maximisation without stopping to think about the costs.

In prose that cuts through the complex language so often wielded by a priesthood of economists, Pilling argues that our steadfast loyalty to growth is informing misguided policies - and contributing to a rising mistrust of experts that is shaking the very foundations of our democracy.

Review:

A most thoughtful and profound philosophical reflection on how we live our lives, organise our societies and shape the future of humanity. It should be compulsory reading for everyone who is interested in making the world a better place (Ha-Joon Chang, author of '23 Things They Don't Tell You About Capitalism')

A welcome antidote to the gospel according to GDP (David Smith Sunday Times)

A witty, well-informed and well-travelled guide to our obsession with growth ... If he sometimes makes fun of measurement, he also makes measurement fun. A real achievement (Angus Deaton, Winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics)

Engaging and enlightening, The Growth Delusion explains not only why the emperor has no clothes, but why he wasn't really the emperor in the first place (David Mitchell, author of 'Cloud Atlas')

If you thought that GDP did not necessarily translate into increased welfare, David Pilling shows you convincingly why you were right. One of the Financial Times' most brilliant columnists, Pilling has produced a book that will become a classic (Jagdish Bhagwati, author of 'Why Growth Matters' and 'In Defense of Globalization')

Excellent. The argument for better ways of measuring prosperity is steadily gathering momentum (Rohan Silva Evening Standard)

A rare beast: a book on economics that is well written, accessible and - whisper it - entertaining! Witty, widely travelled and well-informed, David Pilling is an excellent guide to the pitfalls and shortcomings of GDP and a trenchant exponent of the need to move beyond the 'cult of growth' (New Internationalist)

Sharp and engaging ... Pilling argues that gross domestic product (GDP) is an arbitrary, oversimplified human invention that we slavishly follow, and growth is a modern "cult". Like all cults, it requires unquestioning allegiance - in this case the one-decimal-point figure produced by national statisticians every three months. Pilling, who has written about GDP from five continents over 20 years for the FT, started asking questions about the cult and couldn't stop ... Pilling is right that the spell needs to be broken ... Entertaining and well-argued (Philip Aldrich The Times)

A surprisingly zippy book that has the potential to take a smart riposte of mindless growth into mainstream debate . Pilling isn't afraid to make the well-worn criticisms of GDP, and does with clarity and force. But the real beauty of the book is how effortlessly he takes this argument a step further, demonstrating how GDP often makes no sense whatsoever, even taken on its own terms . A wonderful book . A surprisingly addictive page turner, capable of captivating the general reader on a subject known for making eyes glaze over . By injecting a credible dose of ambivalence into common assumptions about GDP he offers a very welcome entry into post-2008 economic writing (Resurgence Ecologist)

Briskly and engagingly, David Pilling alerts us to our impoverished sense of reality in an age that has sacrificed quality to quantity. The Growth Delusion should be read by everyone who wants to make sense of the political earthquakes of our time (Pankaj Mishra, author of 'Age of Anger')

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