When this classic work was first published in 1976,
its central tenet--more is not necessarily
better--placed it in direct conflict with mainstream
thought in economics. Within a few years, however, this
apparently paradoxical claim was gaining wide
acceptance. Scitovsky's ground-breaking book was the
first to apply theories of behaviorist psychology to
questions of consumer behavior and to do so in clear,
non-technical language. Setting out to analyze the
failures of our consumerist lifestyle, Scitovsky
concluded that people's need for stimulation is so vital
that it can lead to violence if not satisfied by
novelty--whether in challenging work, art, fashion,
gadgets, late-model cars, or scandal. Though much of the
book stands as a record of American post-war prosperity
and its accompanying problems, the revised edition also
takes into account recent social and economic changes. A
new preface and a foreword by economist Robert Frank
introduce some of the issues created by those changes
and two revised chapters develop them, discussing among
others the assimilation of counter-cultural ideas
throughout American society, especially ideas concerning
quality of life. Scitovsky draws fascinating connections
between the new elite of college-educated consumers and
the emergence of a growing underclass plagued by drugs
and violence, perceptively tracing the reactions of
these disparate groups to the problems of leisure and
boredom. In the wake of the so-called ''decade of
greed'' and amidst calls for a ''kindler, gentler''
society, The Joyless Economy seems more timely than
ever. |
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