The Moral Consequences of Economic Growth

This probing study argues that, far from fostering rapacious materialism, economic growth is a prerequisite for the creation of a liberal, open society. Harvard economist Friedman, author of `Day of Reckoning: The Consequences of American Economic Policy in the 1980s`, contends that periods of robust economic growth, in which most people see their circumstances palpably improving, foster tolerance, democracy and generous public support for the disadvantaged. Economic stagnation and insecurity, by contrast, usher in distrust, retrenchment and reaction, as well as a tightfisted callousness toward the poor and — from the nativism of 19th-century Populists to the white supremacist movement of the 1980s — a scapegoating of immigrants and minorities. Exploring two centuries of historical evidence, from income and unemployment data to period novels, Friedman elucidates connections between economic conditions, social attitudes and public policy throughout the world. He offers a nuanced defense of globalization against claims that it promotes inequality and, less convincingly, remains optimistic that technology will resolve the conflicts between continual growth and environmental degradation.

speaker:
Prof. Dr. Benjamin M. Friedman (William Joseph Maier Professor of Political Economy, and formerly Chairman of the Department of Economics, at Harvard University)