The Growth Delusion: The Wealth And Well-Being Of Nations

A provocative critique of the pieties and fallacies of our obsession with economic growth. We live in a society in which a priesthood of economists, wielding impenetrable mathematical formulas, sets the framework for public debate. Ultimately, it is economists who set the agenda for how much we can spend on our schools, highways, and defense; who decide how much unemployment is acceptable and whether it is right to print money or bail out profligate banks.

The backlash we are currently witnessing suggests that people are turning against the economists and their faulty representation of our lives. Despite decades of steady economic growth, many citizens feel more pessimistic than ever, and are voting for candidates who voice undisguised contempt for the technocratic elite. For too long, economics has relied on a language which fails to resonate with people's lived experience, and we are now living with the consequences.

In this powerful, incisive book, David Pilling dives into the biases and failings of our obsession with economic growth, and explores the alternatives to GDP, from measures of wealth, equality, and sustainability to measures of subjective wellbeing. Authoritative, provocative, and eye-opening, The Growth Delusion offers witty and unexpected insights into how our society can respond to the needs of real people instead of pursuing growth at any cost.