| The Politics of Happiness
New Economics Foundation,
2003
Synopsis
It is slowly becoming clear that the previously
successful dual dynamic of economic growth and
human wellbeing is, in Western societies, running
out of steam. But we aren’t prepared to
admit it yet. The free-market economy is now part
of the fabric of life, an orthodoxy so established
that it is barely visible. Now the benchmarks
of success will have to change. The power of the
onwards-and-upwards model of progress is waning.
The problem with late capitalism is not what it
gives us – there is little wrong with Faberge
or Furbys. It is what it is failing to give us:
companionship, time for reflection, spirituality,
security, intellectual development and joy in
our children. We have come this far, only so as
to miss so much.
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