THE END OF GROWTH: ADAPTING TO OUR NEW ECONOMIC REALITY PDF, EPUB, EBOOK Richard Heinberg | 336 pages | 11 Oct 2011 | CLAIRVIEW BOOKS | 9781905570331 | English | Forest Row, United Kingdom The End of Growth: Adapting to Our New Economic Reality PDF Book Are economic statistics accurate? Heinberg does a great job of examining each of these in turn, and while tomorrow is guaran This is a fantastic book. Richard Heinberg. I have never understood why mainstream economic theory ignored the impact of a huge population. For most of the book, Heinberg persuasively discusses why the growth economy is ending. Heinberg, writing in the immediate aftermath of the recession, paints the bleakest picture of the world economy dedicating the vast majority of the book to predicting no sustained growth ever again and the imminence of an energy crisis. Get A Copy. Heinberg goes through all the major natural resources and explains their limitations, including oil, water, food, and metals. In other words, we will have to adapt to an energy-constrained economy. Important topic, poorly written book. For the most part, this book provided an honest look at our situation as it is and what we are headed for. Instead of maximizing throughput, we need to focus more on our adaptability, diversity, and interconnectivity. It also offers a level-headed assessment of myriad crises and amelioration strategies on a spectrum of plausibility. Negatives: 1. On the other hand, the book is too pessimistic and sceptical — it underestimates the power of new and innovative technologies and overemphasises the negative impact of consumerism. I agree with his thesis and I doubt most that don't want to hear the message of restraint will. Fact is, Obama and the Democrats, despite the flaws of the stimulus, prevented a second Great Depression. Shopping Cart. Peak cheap energy, by itself, was enough to bring an end to perpetual growth. Written in an engaging, highly readable style, it shows why growth is being blocked by three factors:. There are two questions of detail, but important details, which are lacking in the book: how the post-growth economy will work, and how and what we will eat in this economy. Heinberg's worried about climate change? Heinberg is not interested in coming up with his own ideas; as far as I can tell, he is fully occupied with defending other people's ideas. Enlarge cover. Well, why not tax carbon and use the proceeds to invest in alternative energy? As a result, our financial accounting systems are giving us false signals. A steady-state economy. If you haven't heard of record-smashing singer and songwriter Mariah Carey, is there any hope for you? And if you're clueless, after reading this book you'll have a clue. Frankly, a lot of this was over my head. At some point, we will have no choice but to face the limits of our finite ecosystem, and we'll be much better off if we face the music sooner rather than later. In he redefined the problem as Peak Everything. I was really disappointed with this book and found it to be nothing but a missed opportunity. Economists may find a lot of what is in the book basic but it certainly provides a great foundation for the masses. I can't help but think of what's happening now rampant unemployment and human misery and then put that up against Heinberg's suggestion that we start dismantling "mainstream" economics and instead build a new life built on fewer fossil fuel inputs - even though it's not really all that clear when the "peak" or "peaks"will arrive. I had picked up the book with the hope that the author would discuss how the economy could evolve to address a resource-deprived world but Heinberg limits his discussion of solutions to the last chapter and seems to content to endorse a return a local agricultural economy. The End of Growth: Adapting to Our New Economic Reality Writer I am concerned the well-presented facts and well-drawn conclusions of this important book will do nothing to influence those invested in preserving their obsolete and dangerous world views. The responses to each will be different and impacts will be different depending in the country and even the region within a country you happen to live in. And what, exactly, are the timelines on running out of cheap energy? Yes Uranium is also peaking but Thorium isn't and that avoids some of the pitfalls of Uranium. Well, maybe not. Chapter 5 tries to refute, in advance, any attempts to say that growth has returned just on the basis of one country or other experiencing growth, or describing the slight recovery from the Great Recession as "growth. Richard Heinberg. Why economic growth is important. That's right. It'll be done in less than five. The peak everything sections are OK but as with many of these writers the implication is that disaster starts now. Refresh and try again. It is not a panacea for jobs and well-being. Chapters five and six move the discussion toward a more international dimension. We can thrive during the transition if we set goals that promote human and environmental well-being, rather than continuing to pursue the now-unattainable prize of ever-expanding GDP. Those seeking a more balanced account should look elsewhere. We don't put a lock DRM on our files and trust you not to give copies to your family, friends or colleagues. The impact of having to substitute key resources in the future. Feb 13, Joshua rated it did not like it Shelves: sabbatical , economics. Various other authors have opined on the impossibility of endless economic growth on our finite planet, and postulated on how the future could look like in a fuel scarce world, but Heinberg does a great job on putting all the pieces together in quite a comprehensive manner, beginning with the basics and history of economic thought that has led to our growth driven industrial society, how Peak Oil and natural resource decline are the fundamental causes of the coming unraveling of debt created economic expansion, how the geopolitics and social trends of the world could play out in that context, and last but not least what governments, communities and individuals can and should do to be better prepared for the inevitable transition. While we commonly trust that innovation will save us, as we have historically assumed that resource substitution and energy efficiency will enable continued, unfettered economic growth, Heinberg asserts that unless we can overturn the laws of physics, we cannot innovate our way to perpetual growth. He looks at alternative points of view. Readers also enjoyed. Friend Reviews. I agree with his thesis and I doubt most that don't want to hear the message of restraint will. Maybe it's time to start preparing for a future based on resilience over growth. There are sensible solutions and tactics to our economic problems. Want to Read Currently Reading Read. View exclusive supplemental materials from Richard on adjusting to The End of Growth. Quotes from The End of Growth Frankly, a lot of this was over my head. Also, this book shows its age. Not my usual genre but I enjoyed the history of economics and the fact that the author did try to put a positive spin on the future of humanity at the end. It's not that I disagree, but this is not really a super entry-level book and I don't have the required background knowledge to understand the correlations between some of what he's talking about. This is likely to unfold as increased struggles between nations, competition among world currencies, old vs. And our entire economy is now fundamentally addicted to debt and to continued, indefinite growth. The End of Growth: Adapting to Our New Economic Reality Reviews Michael Lewis does an infinitely better job of making economic topics readable and understandable. It features various forms of debt-jubilees— schemes to discharge debt—with various big-time winners and losers. Welcome to the 21st century! Man's infinite ambitions and voracious appetites for more can not be sustained in a world that is constrained to finite resources, in a universe governed by physical laws that will only allow for so much growth. And how the priorities of poor nations have just changed. Even he acknowledges that many of these very active and successful groups are all but unknown to the larger communities in which they live. Not my usual genre but I enjoyed the history of economics and the fact that the author did try to put a positive spin on the future of humanity at the end. It's just the idea that any one of us is going to have all the answers is improbable. First, the days of cheap oil were behind us. I'd like to ask Heinberg whether he's talked to a family lately - maybe one where the father or mother or both is unemployed - and told them they'd better turn down those unemployment benefits because, you know, those are just mere claims on future growth that's not going to happen because we're running out of cheap energy Rafael Not yet but you might like min. The Principle of Subsidiarity. Oct 01, Diane rated it really liked it. I think Heinberg is smarter than that and I'd like to see in his blog or in a book or elsewhere some of his thinking about things he doesn't understand. For the most part, this book provided an honest look at our situation as it is and what we are headed for.