![Small Is Beautiful [Paperback] [Jan 01, 1993] E F Schumacher](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61JAszv40jL._AC_UL160_SR160,160_.jpg)
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.
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Top reviews from other countries
Suzanne Waverley
Thoughtful insights into globalization
Reviewed in Canada on January 24, 2013frank lehmann
An eye opener book and a must read.
Reviewed in Canada on November 2, 2014
ALOYSIO Bastos V Jr.
Não precisávamos estar nessa situação. Argumentos de 50 anos atrás.
Reviewed in Brazil on October 5, 2019
