Needs and Limits: A New Economics for Sustainable Well-Being 2nd Edition

Humankind faces two formidable challenges in the 21st century: rapid ecological decline and continuing world poverty. The author argues that both problems are rooted in our economic concepts, which for the past 500 years have been powerfully shaped by the reality and ideology of capitalism. We must now develop a new mode of economic thought to guide us through the profound changes required to achieve sustainable and global well-being. To this end, the author proposes a set of terms, concepts, and analytical tools that are collectively known as the Economics of Needs and Limits, or ENL. Unlike conventional economic theories, which explain how an economy functions, ENL is a set of guiding principles that permits analysts to establish rational economic objectives. Such a framework is a requirement for moving our civilization beyond destructive growth and into the equitable, post-expansionary stage of its evolution.