Social Limits to Growth (Routledge Classics)

Fred Hirsch's Social Limits Growth is one of the sleeper hits of economics.Its brilliant and acute insights, informed by Hirsch’s experience as a journalist at The Economist before turning to academia, have become ever more relevant as liberal capitalism confronts challenges from austerity to the global race for scarce resources.Hirsch makes the case for what he calls "positional goods", which derive their value from being scarce in ways that can’t be relieved by technological advancement, such as a Rembrandt painting, a priceless antique or even an elite, private education.Crucially, Hirsch says, their value lies in the social position their ownership allows one to occupy.He contrasts them with material goods, such as flushing toilets, opportunities to travel, and high-quality food.There is no such positional status afforded by their ownership because, despite a relatively high cost at their introduction, soon everyone has them.Once such material goods cease being luxuries, people beg