Growth Fetish

(Paperback)

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On both right and left, all major political parties in the Western world share the same belief: that the first objective of government should be to raise the rate of economic growth. Politicians and opinion makers all agree this is the way to a better future, yet after decades of sustained economic growth, people do not feel any better off. Clive Hamilton shows how the feverish pursuit of economic growth has been used to justify the radical transformation of government, of work and also of leisure since the 1980s. Yet this has been in vain. For the evidence is that more growth in the economy and more income is not making individuals any happier. Hamilton argues that "growth fetishism" lies at the heart of our social, political and environmental ills. It is the basis of consumer society and of the manufactured personal identity created by a marketing culture. Challenging mainstream political and economic thought, Hamilton outlines a new political philosophy which promotes the things which genuinely improve social and personal well-being.

Author Bio

Clive Hamilton is Executive Director of The Australia Institute, Australia's foremost public interest think tank. Trained in economics and politics, he also holds academic positions at the Australian National University and the University of Technology Sydney.