Publishers Weekly
02/19/2024
Economic growth is a double-edged sword, according to this thought-provoking treatise. King’s College London economist Susskind (A World Without Work) suggests that world history was characterized by poverty and stagnation before an Enlightenment-era cultural shift toward “reason... over superstition” saw the application of the scientific method to such problems as increasing factory output, creating unprecedented economic expansion with the arrival of the Industrial Revolution. Ever since, growing the economy has become the obsession of governments eager to wash away political antagonisms in a tide of prosperity, Susskind contends, arguing that this blinkered focus on increasing GDP has produced toxic downsides too glaring to ignore, environmental destruction and inequality primary among them. While Susskind rejects the “degrowth” movement (he posits that the rapid adoption of solar panels shows how certain forms of growth can be a net good), he recommends convening assemblies of randomly selected citizens to propose ways to balance economic boosterism against social and environmental objectives, such as deciding how much to curb foreign competition for the benefit of domestic workers. The high-level discussions evaluating the merits of economists Paul Romer’s and Joel Mokyr’s theories about the origins of human prosperity can be dense, but the discerning analysis is worth the effort. This brings clarity to a pressing and intractable quandary. (Apr.)
Finance & Development - Vivek Arora
A useful addition to the public discussion of growth in a longer-term context.
Daron Acemoglu
What type of economic growth we should pursue, how much of it, and for whose benefit will be crucial questions in the years to come, especially if current trends—more and more inequality, and an increasing concentration of power among the select few companies shaping the future of technology—continue. This well-written, thought-provoking book is essential reading for anybody interested in these epochal debates.
Rory Stewart
Daniel Susskind writes with verve, style, and conviction about one of the most important issues of our age.
Lawrence H. Summers
Daniel Susskind is a compelling, insightful thinker on the largest and most fundamental economic topics. At a time when traditional notions of growth are increasingly being questioned, this book is profoundly important. Agree or disagree, anyone who wants to engage with the broad direction of economic policy needs to reckon with Susskind’s views.
Andy Haldane
This is a wonderfully elegant and authoritative explanation-cum-manifesto for what is perhaps the most important economic issue facing us today—the mystery of economic growth and what we need to do to solve it.
City Journal - Robert Bellafiore Jr.
A concise and informative study of the idea, its past, and its potential future…[Susskind] is a reliable guide to economists’ often arcane arguments about growth and a clear commentator on their significance
The Nation - Benjamin Kunkel
Consults the balance sheet of a capitalist society dedicated to economic growth and concludes that in the 21st century, the singular ambition of growth may need to be modified but shouldn’t be abandoned.
Gordon Brown
Growth—the lack of it, the search for it, the barriers to it—is the challenge at the core of most political debates and with which all politicians struggle. Susskind’s study is a tour de force.
Nature - Rutger Hoekstra
A readable and useful introduction to the green-growth perspective.
Diane Coyle
For two centuries, economic growth has meant longer lives, better health, and material comfort. But has growth now come to an end? What can be done to restart the engine? Or should we halt growth deliberately, given its environmental costs? This panoramic book addresses the most fundamental economic questions from a deeply ethical perspective.
Wall Street Journal - Edward Glaeser
Charts the growth of growth as an economic idea, policy objective, and source of anxiety…succeeds smartly as a history of thought.
