Read it at Feasta — The Foundation for the Economics of Sustainability
This view that production for the sake of goods produced is no longer urgent is carried across into a forensic analysis of the balance between private production and public services. He vividly contrasts the healthy state of markets that privately produce (often useless) goods with the poverty and underinvestment in fundamentally important public services, and explains the provenance of the conventional wisdom that applauds the former and distrusts the latter. Restoring the 'social balance' – by which he means engineering the commitment to invest properly in public services such as education and health – is seen as a key objective, and one that has under-appreciated positive impact on pure economic outcomes.
The Affluent Society by J.K. Galbraith: review
by Graham Barnes
1 comment:
I need to read this.
The article concludes with:
"But as Galbraith himself says ideas do not of themselves change the world until circumstances
(or ‘events dear boy’ as Macmillan may or may not have said) create a propitious environment. So maybe now is the time."
So very true. If I could return my iPhone and reverse the policies of the last 30 years, I'd make that deal. I want a do-over, and I don't think I'm alone.
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