The Real Wealth of Nations: Creating a Caring Economics

The great problems of our time ??? such as poverty, inequality, war, terrorism, and environmental degradation ??? are due in part to our flawed economic models that set the wrong priorities and misallocate resources. Conventional economic measures, policies, and practices fail to give visibility and value to the most essential human work ??? the work of caring and caregiving. This powerful book proposes that we need a radical reformulation of economics, one that supports caring and caregiving at the individual, organizational, societal, and environmental levels. This ""caring economics"" takes into account the full spectrum of economic activities ??? from the life-sustaining activities of the household, to the life-enriching activities of caregivers and communities of all types, to the life-supporting processes of nature. Eisler exposes the economic double standard that devalues anything stereotypically associated with women and femininity and shows how this distorts our values and our lives.