Economics Unmasked: From power and greed to compassion and the common good

Max-Neef, Manfred; Smith, Philip B.

ISBN 10: 1900322706 / ISBN 13: 9781900322706

Published by Green Books, 2011

About this Item

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Bibliographic Details

• Title: Economics Unmasked: From power and greed to compassion and the common good
• Publisher: Green Books
• Publication Date: 2011
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1900322706
• ISBN 13: 9781900322706
• Binding: paperback
• Condition: New
• Weight: 14 ounces

About this title

Synopsis

An inspiring outline of a new economics system, where justice, human dignity, compassion and reverence for life are the guiding values.

The economic system under which we live not only forces the great majority of humankind to live their lives in indignity and poverty but also threatens all forms of life on Earth. Economics Unmasked presents a cogent critique of the dominant economic system, showing that the theoretical constructions of mainstream economics work mainly to bring about injustice.

The merciless onslaught on the global ecosystem of recent decades, brought about by the massive increase in the production of goods and the consequent depletion of nature’s reserves, is not a chance property of the economic system. It is a direct result of neoliberal economic thinking, which recognizes value only in material things. The growth obsession is not a mistaken conception that mainstream economists can unlearn, it is inherent in their view of life. But a socio-economic system based on the growth obsession can never be sustainable.

This book outlines the foundations of a new economics, where we are not ruled by greed and injustice. Contrary to the absurd assumption of mainstream economists that economics is a value-free science, a new economics must make its values explicit.

About the Author

Philip Bartlett Smith (1923-2005) was a Dutch-American experimental physicist who after his retirement devoted himself to studying economics and economic theories. He was co-author with S.E. Okoya, J. de Wilde and P. Deshingkar of The World at the Crossroads: Towards a sustainable, equitable and livable world; A Report to the Pugwash Council (Earthscan 1994). Manfred Max-Neef is a Chilean-German economist and environmentalist. He is Professor of Ecological Economics in the Southern University of Chile, and Director of the Economics Institute. His book Human Scale Development has been recognized by Cambridge University as one of the fifty most important texts in Sustainability.