A fascinating look at a world in which we have become obsessed with economic growth at the expense of quality of life, and what we can do to change Ever get the feeling that things are falling apart? You're not alone. From bad banks to global warming it can all look hopeless, but what if everything could turn out, well, even better than before? What if the only thing holding us back is a lack of imagination and a surplus of old orthodoxies? In fascinating and iconoclastic detail—on everything from the cash in your pocket to the food on your plate and the shape of our working lives—this book describes how the relentless race for economic growth is not always one worth winning, how excessive materialism has come at a terrible cost to our environment, and how it hasn't even made us any happier in the process. The author believes passionately in the human capacity for change, and shows how the good life remains in our grasp. While global warming and financial meltdown might feel like modern day horsemen of the apocalypse, this book shows how such end of the world scenarios offer us the chance for a new beginning.