Having two dollars is better than having one. Strong economic growth is good for the economy. Having more choices is better for consumers. More money, faster growth, these are that will make the world better. Bigger is better, right? These might seem like obvious statements, but they express a deeply held assumption, an assumption that Bill McKibben shows is deeply flawed in his new book Deep Economy.
Deep Economy shows more has now become the problem.
[G]rowth is no longer making most people wealthier, but instead generating inequality and insecurity. And growth is bumping against physical limits so profound – like climate change and peak oil – that continuing to expand the economy may be impossible; the very attempt may be dangerous. But there’s something else too, a wild card we’re just now beginning to understand: new research from many quarters has started to show that even when growth does make us wealthier, the greater wealth no longer makes us happy.