Growth Fetish

Blurb

Growth Fetish is a book about economics and politics by the Australian liberal political theorist Clive Hamilton. Published in 2003 it became a best-seller in Australia, an unusual feat for what is normally considered a dry subject.
The book argues that the policies of unfettered capitalism pursued by the west for the last 50 years has largely failed, since the underlying purpose of the creation of wealth is happiness, and Hamilton claims that people in general are no happier now than 50 years ago, despite the huge increase in personal wealth. Hamilton goes on to claim that the pursuit of growth has become a fetish, pursued at a tremendous cost in terms of the environment, erosion of democracy, and the values of society as a whole. Hamilton's catchphrase "People buy things they don't need, with money they don't have, to impress people they don't like" - an axiom "borrowed" from actor Walter Slezak - sums up his philosophy on consumerism.
Hamilton proposes that where a society has developed to the point at which the majority of people live reasonably comfortably, the pursuit of growth is pointless and should be curtailed.