The Sustainable State: The Future of Government, Economy, and Society - Couverture souple

Nair, Chandran

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 1523095148 ISBN 13 : 9781523095148

Editeur : Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2018

Synopsis

“Asks difficult questions and offers bold, provocative answers . . . These pages open our eyes to some of the most urgent problemss facing humanity. A must-read.” —Moisés Naím, author of The Revenge of Power

The free-market, limited-government development model has been an ecological and social disaster for the developing world. Sustainable and equitable development is only possible with the active involvement of a strong central state that can guide the economy, protect the environment, and prioritize meeting people’s basic needs.

In this sure-to-be-controversial book, Chandran Nair shows that the market-dominated model followed by the industrialized West is simply not scalable. The US alone, with less than five percent of the world population, consumes nearly a quarter of its resources. If Asian countries, where sixty percent of the world lives, follow the Western lead, the results will be calamitous.

Instead, Nair argues that development must be directed by a state that is willing and able to intervene in the economy. Corporations, which by design demand ever-expanding consumption, need to be directed toward meeting societal needs or otherwise restrained, not unleashed. Development has to be oriented towards the greatest good—clean drinking water for the many has to take precedence over swimming pools for the few. He provides three compelling case studies demonstrating the benefits of such strong state governance and the findings of weak state governance.

This will mean rethinking the meaning of concepts like “prosperity,” “freedom,” and “rights,” and whether democracy is always the best way to ensure responsive government—as Nair writes, “A democracy that cannot work to improve the life of its citizens is not better than a non-democracy that can actually improve quality of life.” Many people will find these to be challenging ideas, but what Nair offers is a model suited to the realities of the developing world, not the assumptions of the dominant culture.

A propos du livre

À propos de l'auteur

Chandran Nair is the founder and CEO of the Global Institute For Tomorrow, an independent Pan-Asian think tank. He was chairman of Environmental Resources Management in Asia Pacific until 2004, and is a regular speaker at global forums including the World Economic Forum, APEC Summits and OECD events. He is a Member of the Club of Rome and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Berrett-Koehler Publishers
• Date d'édition: 2018
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 1523095148
• ISBN 13: 9781523095148
• Reliure: Broché
• Nombre de pages: 272
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
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