The Growth Illusion
How Economic Growth Has Enriched the Few, Impoverished the Many and Endangered the Planet

The idea that growth is beneficial underlies the economic strategies of all major political parties, but the reality of recent years is that the negative effects of growth have far outweighed any positive ones. In Ireland growth has been the root cause of unemployment; in Britain it has led to an eightfold increase in crime, the breakdown of family life and a deterioration in general levels of health and education; in the USA real incomes have fallen; in India people have been driven from the land into urban slums; and the natural world suffers increasing threat and inexorable erosion. The Growth Illusion exposes the real nature of undirected economic growth, and refutes Adam Smith's belief in the 'invisible hand' ensuring that self-interest would serve the common good. Rather than strive for constant expansion to stave off collapse, nations must learn to build stable economies. This new edition updates the text with an analysis of recent developments in the UK?and elsewhere.

Richard Douthwaite

Richard Douthwaite is an economist and writer with a special interest in climate and energy issues and in local economic development. His best-known book, The Growth Illusion: How Economic Growth Enriched the Few, Impoverished the Many and Endangered the Planet explores the effects that the pursuit of growth has had on the environment and society.

He is a co-founder of Feasta, the Foundation for the Economics of Sustainability, the Dublin-based international network of people who believe that the world's sustainability problems are due to the use of dysfunctional systems and are trying to develop better ones. His current projects include the design and introduction of novel financing arrangements for community energy projects and the management of the Carbon Cycles and Sinks Network which explores ways in which land-based greenhouse gas emissions can be reduced. He lives in Westport, Co. Mayo.