Small Is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered [Paperback]

E. F. Schumacher (Author)

Book Description

Release date: October 19, 2010

“Nothing less than a full-scale assault on conventional economic wisdom.” —Newsweek

 

One the 100 most influential books published since World War II

—The Times Literary Supplement

 

Hailed as an “eco-bible” by Time magazine, E.F. Schumacher’s riveting, richly researched statement on sustainability has become more relevant and vital with each year since its initial groundbreaking publication during the 1973 energy crisis. A landmark statement against “bigger is better” industrialism, Schumacher’s Small Is Beautiful paved the way for twenty-first century books on environmentalism and economics, like Jeffrey Sachs’s The End of Poverty, Paul Hawken’s Natural Capitalism, Mohammad Yunis’s Banker to the Poor, and Bill McKibben’s Deep Economy. This timely reissue offers a crucial message for the modern world struggling to balance economic growth with the human costs of globalization.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Embracing what Schumacher stood for--above all the idea of sensible scale--is the task for our time. Small is Beautiful could not be more relevant. It was first published in 1973, but it was written for our time.” (Bill McKibben, from the Foreword)

“An eco-bible” (Time magazine)

“Small Is Beautiful changed the way many people think about bigness and its human costs.” (New York Times)

“Nothing less than a full-scale assault on conventional economic wisdom. . . . Schumacher believes economists need a new set of values, to obtain maximum well-being with minimum consumption.” (Newsweek)

From the Back Cover

Small Is Beautiful is Oxford-trained economist E. F. Schumacher’s classic call for the end of excessive consumption. Schumacher inspired such movements as “Buy Locally” and “Fair Trade,” while voicing strong opposition to “casino capitalism” and wasteful corporate behemoths. Named one of the Times Literary Supplement’s 100 Most Influential Books Since World War II, Small Is Beautiful presents eminently logical arguments for building our economies around the needs of communities, not corporations.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Harper Perennial; Reprint edition (October 19, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061997765
• ISBN-13: 978-0061997761
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #22,762 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #15 in Books > Business & Investing > Economics > Microeconomics
  • #35 in Books > Business & Investing > Economics > Theory

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 36 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Insightful and still relevant September 4, 2011

By Steven Unwin

Format:Paperback

I read this book back-to-back with another book by Schumacher, A Guide for the Perplexed. Though Small is Beautiful is the title for which he is most well known, my strong preference was for the latter title.

Small is Beautiful is the earlier book and is rightly recognised as a key instigator of what we might call `grown-up' environmental awareness. The subtitle of the book `Economics as if People Mattered' reflects the aim of the book in extending economic thinking beyond purely traditional financial factors. Central to this is the acknowledgement of the value of natural capital as an input to economic production. For example the air, water and other natural resources that traditional economics assumes to be free and abundant.

The `small is beautiful` of the title refers to Schumacher's argument that we should steer away from a belief that technology can be relied upon to solve whatever problems we throw in its direction and that decentralization as a way to bring the human touch back into the equation of business.

Schumacher makes a strong case for the value of intermediate technology, or perhaps appropriate technology, which not only delivers desired outcomes, but does so in ways that are in harmony with the broader needs of the communities where the technology is applied. For example, however valuable the finished constructed project, a JCB used in its construction may do the work of 100 men, but is of questionable value if in a developing country those 100 men have nothing to do but watch the JCB, and it is driven by a worker imported from overseas.

The book, though perhaps a little dated, is a good read, and essential reading for anyone wanting to question the dominance of single minded profit based economics....

Personally, having read A Guide for the Perplexed at the same time, I found Small is Beautiful a less rounded book, full of passion and some anger, and packed with ideas and the will to confront the world. In contrast I found A Guide for the Perplexed had the feeling of a book that had perhaps benefited from some time to reflect. In place of the data, evidence and specific arguments of the earlier book, it has a calm and considered perspective with the fragmented and detailed ideas of Small is Beautiful distilled into a single human theme.

My recommendation would be to read both books, beginning with this title. As well as benefiting from the richness of both of the books, you may also gain some insights into the process of developing quite profound ideas. Read more ›

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Should Be on the School Curriculum! September 10, 2011

By Sir Furboy

Format:Paperback

This book should be required reading in schools - it is that good. Insightful, clear and to the point, the author's analysis of the issues is as relevant today as it was when he wrote it.

His basic premise is that fossil fuels are capital , and yet we consume it like it is a revenue stream, and this is ultimately destructive. Instead we should spend our capital resources in order to create the infrastructure for sustainability.

This book inspired the organic movement, and is the intellectual basis of so much of environmentalism. We ignore its lessons at our peri

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful book that should be in every School Curriculum November 16, 2012

By Brookpap

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Small is Beautiful - Economics as if People Matter (E.F. Schumacher) and Slowing down the speed of life - how to create a more peaceful life from the inside out (Richard Carlsen and Joseph Bailey) are a couple of my favorite books that I have read to date of quite a library (combined with some very practical life and business experience).

I would have to applaud E.F. Schumaker for making an extremely well thought out review of the values in society as they relate to the economy. I'm sure that deep down this stuff must be present in most of us. The fact he was also a Rhodes Scholar also demonstrates his commitment to intellectual and practical rigor, as well as the fact he worked in both first world and developing nations provided him a contextual background for his statements.

This is a MUST read book which relates to a sustainable economics - this book could change your entire viewpoint of the commercial systems we live in, but ultimately it underpins survival, economics and the physical reality in which we live. It is not some new age untested spin of reality, but rather lies extremely close to the surface of reality, in fact for that matter, what was once termed "common sense".

It redefines the concept of "human capital" vs fiat currency capital and the roles of Government and Business. It looks at economies of scale, and economics in general.

The problem with economics as it stands, is unless it represents environmental (see physical) and moral values, it make make what is essential to life worthless (in terms of money) and what is worthless expensive (in terms of money). It is (the economy) a system that can be adjusted and tampered with on a wim.... It makes you appreciate the simpler things in life such as clean water, air and basic food and shelter.

You can use an economy to make essential survival skills and tools forgotten, just with the phrase "its not economically viable". At the end of the day the economy represents the VALUES of society and economists, rather that what we actually NEED. A common sense override that needs to be considered regarding the "economy" and "economists" is that without the right values embedded within the economic system itself (see SELF regulating) we could have the values of humanity and survival overridden by an arbitrary system that is supposed to support the very values of the people "the system" is destroying.

Money and Value should not be able to be detached from each other, but have been allowed to wonder apart through deliberate rent seeking and self interest of large organisations and financially "powerful" individuals that benefit at the expense of others and have allowed themselves to suppress and ultimately override their own humanitarian values. Hence the rise of administrators = lower quality work and less efficiency in most cases. The amoral concept of "I'm just doing my Job" as it relates to the financial, humanitarian, and ecological systems is no answer to the problems that face humans today. Economists need to revisit these facts.

Which came first, the human or the system? Is it the human that administers to the needs of the system, or is it the system that needs to adapt to meet the survival needs of the human? I believe after reading this in addition to a triple bottom line (you cant live without an environment with all the "money" in the world) we also need behavioral incentives for the economy internationally whereby poor behavior imposes its own tarrifs, as at the moment there are many that will sell their soul for money , and don't realize it is destroying themselves in the process, and others.

For anyone that enjoyed reading or watching the Dr Zeuss Classic "The Lorax" or is searching for the underpinning truth about economics and behavior or just a positive change in lifestyle, I believe this is the book you might have been waiting to read.

I encourage any teachers or students interested in either economics (particularly behavioral economics) or the environment to read this book. Read more ›

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars An important blueprint for our future December 15, 2012

By Concerned Consumer

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

A majority of people want change. But it's important to know what kind of change we want. Small is Beautiful reveals there are alternative means for achieving prosperity that lift up human conditions and do not harm the earth we live and depend on.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Must Read! January 15, 2013

By Seth Harris

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

This was a copy bought as a gift after many discussions about economics.

This should be a must read for everyone. Schumacher's ideas are timeless, despite being written in the context of his time.

Go check it out.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Small is beautiful: A practical guide on how to run a business (and live life) May 6, 2013

By Eric Kim

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Being an entrepreneur, I have always been told that 'bigger is better.' Therefore the existence of my company was to grow as big as I could (in number of employees) as well as my profits. This caused a lot of angst, as even though I was earning enough money to survive comfortably, I was still working harder and harder, trying to grow bigger and earning more money (by expanding the services I offered)-- never considering "temperantia," or knowing when "enough is enough."

I was first brought onto the idea of "small is beautiful" by Nassim Taleb in "Antifragile"-- often citing nature as his example. For example, humans evolved to live as hunter-gatherers, rather than to grow into 100,000+ employee companies. I also wondered why I kept on working more and more, when I earned enough money.

I recommend in addition to reading this, to read How Much is Enough?: Money and the Good Life. It also gives great practical philosophies on the insanity of growing for the sake of growing.

Some quotes from the book I enjoyed:

* Ghandhi: "Earth provides enough to satisfy every mans need, not for every man's greed"
* "What were luxuries for our fathers have become necessities for us."
* "An ounce of practice is worth more than a ton of theory"
* "The rate of real leisure is inversely proportional to the amount of time-saving devices they own"

Probably the best chapter in this book is Chapter 4: "Buddhist Economics" in which the author gives Buddhism as an example that yes, you can have a sort of "ethical economics" -- not just squeezing the proletariat for profits.... There is also a free text available online if you just google "buddhist economics schumacher" that is also a great accompaniment.

The big takeaway I got from the book is this: know when "enough is enough" (if you work as an entrepreneur or in an office, to just earn enough to fulfill your basic needs--then spending the rest of your energy on creative pursuits). Not only that, but the idea that smallness is definitely beneficial (and more natural) when it comes to an organization. After all, in nature things don't continue growing forever-- there are natural limits in which things stop growing. Think of our eyebrows (they miraculously know when to stop growing).

Also highly recommend reading Schumacher's A Guide for the Perplexed which is a very fun and practical read on how to use philosophy to live a fulfilling and purposeful life. Read more ›