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 justice, human dignity, compassion and reverence for life are the guiding values. Contrary to the absurd assumption of mainstream economists that economics is a value-free science, a new economics must make its values explicit. The world urgently needs original and creative thinking about economics - the sort of thinking that Manfred Max-Neef has been offering for several decades. His latest book (written jointly with Philip B. Smith) is an inspiring statement that there is an alternative to the hollow dream of globalisation. They also provide a long-overdue account of how economics came to dominate modern life and how the market came to dominate the economy. This is a story about power and injustice which is a necessary preliminary to any attempt to bring about social justice or environmental balance. * Molly Scott Cato, Reader in Green Economics, Cardiff School of Management * Philip B. Smith and Manfred Max Neef have done something remarkable and necessary - they have set the self-deceptions of mainstream economics and the real world onto a collision course. Smith, the late physicist, and Max Neef, the economist, conspire effectively to re-attach the lost discipline of economics to the reality of how human society actually operates, and to the biophysical limits of the planet we depend on. For too long, the economics profession convinced itself, and almost everyone else, that the economy can have a life of its own, blind to complex human motivations and relationships, and concious stewardship of the natural world that supports it. This book corrects that failure, and argues passionately that change must come from the roots, in the schools and universities where economics is taught. * Andrew Simms - Fellow nef (New Economics Foundation) * "...this book has reminded me of the radical changes we need to make to create a better world." * nef * "Much of the language of the book is passionate and emotive but there are some arresting passages." * Feasta * "One good way for honest economics professors to fight back is to recommend this book to their students." * Herman Daly - Professor at University of Maryland * "Economics Unmasked presents a cogent critique of the dominant economics system in order to help transform our society into one in which all forms of life will be protected." * Postive News - Spring 2011 *
Economics Unmasked: From Power and Greed to Compassion and the Common Good
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