Joseph Pearce took E.F. Schumacher's ideas from Small is Beautiful (see 2-22-08 post)and updated them, proving that his "New Age Economics" weren't crackpot ideas at all, but workable and necessary. Pearce covers all of Schumacher's themes: Giantism, economics and metaphysics, localism, ecological concerns, and human-sized technology. For instance, with the mantra of neo-classical economics and it's obsession with growth (G.O.D.) Pearce writes: "Economic 'realism' dictates that the world economy must expand or die. Yet economic 'realism' is on a collision course with ecological reality. In the real world, as opposed to the utopian dreams of consumerism, expand or die translates simply as expand and die" (38-9). For the "autistic" economists he summarizes Schumacher's thoughts: "In the first place, economics needs a metaphysical critique of itself, an examination of its intrinsic purpose. Secondly, there is a...
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