{"product_id":"social-limits-to-growth-9781041109273","title":"Social Limits to Growth","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eFred Hirsch's \u003ci\u003eSocial Limits Growth\u003c\/i\u003e is one of the sleeper hits of economics. Its brilliant and acute insights, informed by Hirschâs experience as a journalist at \u003ci\u003eThe Economist\u003c\/i\u003e before turning to academia, have become ever more relevant as liberal capitalism confronts challenges from austerity to the global race for scarce resources. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHirsch makes the case for what he calls 'positional goods', which derive their value from being scarce in ways that canât be relieved by technological advancement, such as a Rembrandt painting, a priceless antique or even an elite, private education. Crucially, Hirsch says, their value lies in the social position their ownership allows one to occupy. He contrasts them with material goods, such as flushing toilets, opportunities to travel, and high-quality food. There is no such positional status afforded by their ownership because, despite a relatively high cost at their introduction, soon everyone has them. Once such material goods cease being luxuries, people begin to want other things, which Hirsch memorably and prophetically describes as the needs of the mind and psyche. But these only serve to entangle us in an inescapable war between consumers, as each of us strive to be better than average, reflecting the very limits described by the title of Hirsch's book.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA devastating account of the way of consumerism, conspicuous consumption and the expectation to be better off than the last generation undermine the delicate social capital that has previously bound individuals and communities together, \u003ci\u003eSocial Limits to Growth\u003c\/i\u003e is a book whose message is more urgent now than on its first publication nearly fifty years ago.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis Routledge Classics edition includes a new Foreword by Daniel Halliday.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Taylor \u0026 Francis","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51742387700055,"sku":"9781041109273","price":17.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9781041109273.jpg?v=1758384661","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/social-limits-to-growth-9781041109273","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}