The New Economics

By David Boyle and Andrew Simms
Extracts of comment and review on Earthscan website

Economics sometimes seems to be stacked against social, environmental and individual well-being. But it doesn’t have to be like this. A new approach to economics – deriving as much from Ruskin and Schumacher as from Keynes or Smith – has begun to emerge. Skeptical about money as a measure of success, this new economics turns our assumptions about wealth and poverty upside down. It shows us that real wealth can be measured by increased well-being and environmental sustainability rather than just having and consuming more things.

This book is the first accessible and straightforward guide to the new economics. It describes the problems and bizarre contradictions in conventional economics as well as the principles of the emerging new economics, and it tells the real-world stories of how new economics is being successfully put into practice around the world. An essential guide to understanding new economics for all those who care about making economics work for people and planet.

‘It was a joy to see that The New Economics consciously builds on the strong British moral and intellectual tradition of Ruskin, Belloc, Chesterton, and Schumacher. A revival and extension of this line of thinking was long overdue.’
Professor Herman Daly, author of Steady-State Economics and recipient of the Honorary Right Livelihood Award (Sweden’s alternative to the Nobel Prize)

‘A brilliant and much-awaited book – we need Earth-sized economics, and this is a great start to understanding what’s possible and why it’s needed. The government needs to make it compulsory reading for every secondary school student. Graduates will find it a wonderful way to re-learn the basics.’
Safia Minney MBE, Founder of People Tree

‘This book presents a serious challenge to conventional econcomics , in particular what constitutes real wealth and the role of banks in creating or destroying it. It brings together ideas that lead to joined up solutions not sacrificing the environment in pursuit of unlimited growth and demonstrating how to increase the real quality of life for all mankind not just the privileged few.’
Charles Middleton, MD, Triodos Bank UK

‘By twisting together the green shoots of economic unorthodoxy, The New Economics points the way to a more sensible way of doing things. … I enjoyed it immensely.’
Christian Hunt, Lead author of the Climate Safety report and Managing Director of Cheatneutral

Andrew Simms is teaching on Th Economics of Happiness in 2010. Click here for more information.

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