Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future | 
 enlarge | Author: Bill Mckibben
Publisher: Holt Paperbacks
Category: Book
List Price: $14.00
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Avg. Customer Rating:  50 reviews
Sales Rank: 2453
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 272
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 7.9 x 5.2 x 0.8
ISBN: 0805087222
Dewey Decimal Number: 301
EAN: 9780805087222
ASIN: 0805087222
Publication Date: March 4, 2008
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Condition: Ships immediately! Perfect and New! Has a publisher remainder mark. 2008 Paperback.
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
“Masterfully crafted, deeply thoughtful and mind-expanding.”—Los Angeles Times In this powerful and provocative manifesto, Bill McKibben offers the biggest challenge in a generation to the prevailing view of our economy. Deep Economy makes the compelling case for moving beyond “growth” as the paramount economic ideal and pursuing prosperity in a more local direction, with regions producing more of their own food, generating more of their own energy, and even creating more of their own culture and entertainment. Our purchases need not be at odds with the things we truly value, McKibben argues, and the more we nurture the essential humanity of our economy, the more we will recapture our own.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 45 more reviews...
 Not Far Enough January 6, 2009
McKibben's Deep Economy is very good as far as it goes, but it doesn't go far enough towards discussing sustainable economies and societies. Our populations are already far beyond the size Earth could sustain in a style approaching Europe's or North America's economies. A Very Deep Economy would discuss controlled collapse towards sustainable societies and the avoidance of catastrophic collapse caused by nuclear warfare, economic collapse, etc. Also, his stuff is somewhat Vermont precious.
 Vital Reading for the Future November 16, 2008
This book provides an insight into shifting society toward human values and survival of community, both of which are endangered. Delightfully readable and optimistic and practical.
 Naive and question-begging August 31, 2008
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
I'll grant that we're rendering the planet unfit for human habitation, and not just rhetorically, but because I agree with McKibben. But his solution to the dilemma -- localized economies, and less consumption -- begs a few questions. His solutions might be the answer, but he's disingenous in not acknowledging their downside, and he puts far too much faith in good intentions trumping the self-interest of the rich world.
1. Can local economies work everywhere? Large-scale economies have made it possible for humans to live in many environments that could probably not otherwise support large populations. Los Angles, after all, is a desert.
2. Those of us in rich countries have long been reluctant to sacrifice for the rest of the world, and in the US, even for our own countrymen. Why does McKibben think we'll start now? After all, the economic benefits of localization will accrue to others, not to us in the rich world. And won't an emphasis on local economies make us even less interested, if that's possible, in the fate of, say, Africans and Africa?
3. McKibben has an absurd faith in neighborliness. For example, he claims that local currencies have no downside, because local governments won't issue more currency than they'd be willing to accept in payment of taxes and fees. But if national governments abuse the power to print money, why won't local governments?
4. Small farms are more productive per acre, but less per person. This of course means many of us will be returning to the farm. How is that going to be sold to Americans?
5. So I buy apples from a nearby farm because they taste better, even if they're more expensive. Why would I buy more expensive shoes from the nearby factory if they're no different from cheaper shoes from Vietnam?
6. McKibben tells us how how horrible ecologically it would be if the Chinese lived like Americans do today. But of course they won't be able to; with the recent increases in commodity prices, even Americans can't continue to live like Americans. Increased demand for natural resources will prevent these horror stories from playing out.
Hope for New Economic Perspectives August 21, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
With Deep Economy, Bill McKibben delivers a book that challenges conventional economic and political wisdom. Simply put, we can no longer pursue unlimited growth while producing more and more stuff. This point is heavily underscored as we approach the upper bounds of Earth's natural resources and come to terms with the damage caused by operating under the current prevailing wisdom for over a century.
McKibben points out that, while economic growth is beneficial up to a certain point, it fails to produce corresponding benefits when it passes that threshold. The increased wealth tends to accumulate in the pockets of those who are already wealthy, while the majority of people see little to no increase in income. The endless cycle of consumption tends to produce more inequality and insecurity, rather than prosperity and happiness.
Luckily, McKibben proposes a solution to the dilemma: we should shift our focus from growing economies to growing communities. The pursuit of this goal will yield different rewards, but those rewards will be experienced on a fundamental human level.
Many will view the examples cited in the book as too small to be meaningful, undertaken with an overly optimistic outlook that will be impossible to achieve. But change has to start somewhere, and in the present situation a little inspiration is welcome. Deep Economy provides that inspiration.
A bit repetitive, but incredibly powerful. August 19, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book was required summer reading for me, but I would've read it even if it wasn't. It's a book with ideas people can believe in. It's not hard to understand and I enjoyed it very much. I've learned a lot and know that it will have an effect on what I think about, talk about and do with my every day life.
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