Growth Triumphant: The Twenty-first Century in Historical Perspective (Economics, Cognition, And Society) - Softcover

Easterlin, Richard A.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0472085530 ISBN 13: 9780472085538

Publisher: University of Michigan Press, 1998

Synopsis

Taking a longer view than most literature on economic development, Richard A. Easterlin stresses the enormous contrast between the collective experience of the last half century in both developed and developing countries and what has gone before. An economic historian and demographer, the author writes in the tradition of the "new economic history," drawing on economic theory and quantitative evidence to interpret the historical experience of economic theory and population growth. He reaches beyond the usual disciplinary limits to draw, as appropriate, on sociology, political science, psychology, anthropology, and the history of science. The book will be of interest not only to social scientists but to all readers concerned with where we have been and where we are going.
". . . Easterlin is both an economic historian and a demographer, and it is the combination of these two disciplines and the fine balance between theory and experience that make this well-written, refreshingly optimistic book excellent reading." --Population and Development Review
"In this masterful synthesis, Richard Easterlin draws on the disciplines of economic history, demography, sociology, political science, psychology, and the history of science to present an integrated explation of the origins of modern economic growth and of the mortality revolution. . . . His book should be easily accessible to non-specialists and will give them a sense of why economic history can inform our understanding of the future." --Dora L. Costa, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, EH.Net and H-Net
"Growth Triumphant is, simply, a fascinating book. Easterlin has woven together a history of economic growth, economic development, human mortality and morbidity, the connections each has with the others, and the implications of this nexus of forces on the future. . . . This book deserves a wide audience." --Choice
"In what must surely be the most fair-minded, well-balanced, and scrupulously reasoned and researched book on the sensational subjects implied in its title--the Industrial Revolution, the mortality and fertility revolutions, and the prospects for future happiness for the human race--Professor Easterlin has set in place the capstone of his research career." --Journal of Economic History
Richard A. Easterlin is Professor of Economics, University of Southern California.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

As we approach the twenty-first century, many see a world beset by economic stagnation and explosive population growth. Based on the historical experience of both developed and developing nations, this book offers a sharply differing view. Although the future is not without serious dangers, Easterlin sees rapid economic growth as successfully sweeping the world, with explosive population growth as a passing phenomenon. The question remains, what will the world be like when economic growth is triumphant? Will humanity, freed from material need, turn to nonmaterial pursuits, as many have envisaged? The answer suggested by experience to date is No. Instead, the world will be one in which ever-growing abundance is continually outpaced by ever-rising material aspirations, a world stuck on a hedonic treadmill. Taking a longer-term view than most literature on economic development, Easterlin stresses the enormous contrast between the collective experience of the last half century and what has gone before. An economic historian and demographer, the author writes in the tradition of the "new economic history", drawing on economic theory and quantitative evidence to interpret the historical experience of economic and population growth. He reaches beyond the usual disciplinary limits to draw, as appropriate, on sociology, political science, psychology, anthropology, and the history of science. This work will be of interest not only to social scientists but to all readers concerned with where we have been and where we are going.

About the Author:

Richard A. Easterlin is Professor of Economics, University of Southern California.

About this edition

• Publisher: University of Michigan Press
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0472085530
• ISBN 13: 9780472085538
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 216