From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Challenging the prevailing wisdom that the goal of economies should be unlimited growth, McKibben (The End of Nature)
argues that the world doesn't have enough natural resources to sustain
endless economic expansion. For example, if the Chinese owned cars in
the same numbers as Americans, there would be 1.1 billion more vehicles
on the road—untenable in a world that is rapidly running out of oil and
clean air. Drawing the phrase "deep economy" from the expression "deep
ecology," a term environmentalists use to signify new ways of thinking
about the environment, he suggests we need to explore new economic
ideas. Rather then promoting accelerated cycles of economic expansion—a
mindset that has brought the world to the brink of environmental
disaster—we should concentrate on creating localized economies:
community-scale power systems instead of huge centralized power plants;
cohousing communities instead of sprawling suburbs. He gives examples
of promising ventures of this type, such as a community-supported farm
in Vermont and a community biosphere reserve, or large national
park–like area, in Himalayan India, but some of the ideas—local
currencies as supplements to national money, for example—seem overly
optimistic. Nevertheless, McKibben's proposals for new, less
growth-centered ways of thinking about economics are intriguing, and
offer hope that change is possible. (Mar. 20)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Bookmarks Magazine
In offering straightforward solutions to the looming environmental
crisis, Bill McKibben has marched directly into the middle of a heated
debate. Critics' personal beliefs and politics shaped their reviews,
which described Deep Economy as, alternately, a "masterfully crafted, deeply thoughtful and mind-expanding treatise" (Los Angeles Times) and a "book-length sermon on what is wrong with the way we live" (San Francisco Chronicle).
Some reviewers found McKibben's solutions practical and the author
refreshingly unpretentious, while others considered his vision utopian
and his attitude self-righteous. However, they did agree that McKibben
writes compellingly—with warmth, sincerity, and a sharp sense of humor.
His resolute hope for the future will resound with readers no matter
where their loyalties lie. But will it change any minds?Copyright © 2004 Phillips & Nelson Media, Inc.
From Booklist
*Starred Review* Beginning with his prescient treatise on global warming, The End of Nature
(1990), McKibben has been investigating and elucidating some of the
most confounding aspects of our lives. He now brings his signature
clarity of thought and handsomely crafted prose to a pivotal,
complicated subject, the negative consequences of our growth-oriented
economy. McKibben incisively interprets a staggering array of studies
that document the symbiotic relationship between fossil fuels and five
decades of dizzying economic growth, and the many ways the pursuit of
ever-higher corporate profits has led to environmental havoc and
neglect of people's most basic needs. At once reportorial, philosophic,
and anecdotal, McKibben, intoning the mantra "more is not better,"
takes measure of diminishing returns. With eroding security, a
dysfunctional health system, floundering public schools, higher rates
of depression, "wild inequity" in the distribution of wealth, and
damage to the biosphere, McKibben believes a new paradigm is needed,
that of a "deep economy" born of sustainable and sustaining communities
anchored in local resources. Using the farmer's market as a template,
he explains the logistics of workable alternatives to the corporate
imperative based on ecological capacities and the "economics of
neighborliness." With the threat of energy crises and global warming,
McKibben's vision of nurturing communities rooted in traditional values
and driven by "green" technologies, however utopian, may provide ideas
for constructive change. Donna Seaman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Review
"A hopeful manifesto." -- --Boston Globe
"Masterfully
crafted, deeply thoughtful and mind-expanding. . . . An incisive
critique of the unintended consequences of our...growth-oriented
economy." -- --Los Angeles Times
"McKibben is a
fitting prophet... [His] dexterity as a keen observer and stellar
wordsmith makes Deep Economy well worth reading." -- --The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
"What makes McKibben's book stand out is the completeness of his arguments and his real-world approach to solutions." -- --USA Today
"Wise and...optimistic." -- --The Courier-Journal of Louisville
Review
"I'd like to see Deep Economy read in every Econ 101 class. Bill McKibben asks the central human question: What is the economy for?
The stakes here are terrifyingly high, but with his genial style and
fascinating examples of alternative approaches, McKibben convinces me
that economics is anything but dismal—if only we can learn to do it
right!"—Barbara Ehrenreich, author of Nickel and Dimed "The cult of growth and globalization has seldom been so effectively challenged as by Bill McKibben in Deep Economy.
But this bracing tonic of a book also throws the bright light of
McKibben's matchless journalism on the vibrant local economies now
springing up like mushrooms in the shadow of globalization. Deep Economy fills you with a hope and a sense of fresh possibility."—Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore's Dilemma "How
is our nation going to cope with global warming, peak oil, inequality,
and a growing sense of isolation? Bill McKibben provides the simple but
brilliant answer the economists have missed—we need to create 'depth'
through local interdependence and sustainable use of resources. I will
be requiring this inspiring book for my students, and passionately
recommending it to everyone else I know."—Juliet Schor, professor of
sociology, Boston College, and author of The Overspent American "Bill
McKibben works on the frontiers of new understandings and returns with
his startling and lucid revelations of the possible future. A saner
human-scale world does exist—just over the horizon—and McKibben
introduces us to the people and ideas leading us there."—William
Greider, author of The Soul of Capitalism: Opening Paths to a Moral Economy "Masterfully
crafted, deeply thoughtful and mind-expanding. . . . An incisive
critique of the unintended consequences of our…growth-oriented
economy.”—Los Angeles Times
“A hopeful manifesto.”—Boston Globe
"What makes McKibben's book stand out is the completeness of his arguments and his real-world approach to solutions."—USA Today
“McKibben is a fitting prophet… [His] dexterity as a keen observer and stellar wordsmith makes Deep Economy well worth reading.”—The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
“Wise and…optimistic.”—The Courier-Journal of Louisville
“McKibben’s
proposals for new, less growth-centered ways of thinking about
economics are intriguing, and offer hope that change is possible.”—Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)
“[McKibben] ably argues [that] growth has increased inequality and decreased human happiness.”—Kirkus 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.
About the Author
Bill McKibben is the author of a dozen books, including The End of Nature, Enough: Staying Human in an Engineered Age, and Deep Economy. A former staff writer for The New Yorker, he writes regularly for Harper’s, The Atlantic Monthly, and The New York Review of Books,
among other publications. He is a scholar in residence at Middlebury
College and lives in Vermont with his wife, the writer Sue Halpern, and
their daughter.
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