When is enough enough – any way small is beautiful?

Mediation, Musings, ,
How can constantly chasing more make you feel poor?

I was reminded recently of the book Small Is Beautiful. Does its economic philosophy still pertain to today’s world?

  • To a landscape of scale, wherein the business model of “bigger is better” rules. With mass speech, mass reach, mass marketing. Without any “enough is enough.”
  • To a contemporary context which (in some ways) operates as if people do not really matter. With our personal data just another commodity in commerce.
  • To a political culture infused with the rhetoric of makers vs. takers [1].

I still have the original 1973 paperback (book cover photos). Evidently the book is not available in digital (Kindle) format on Amazon.

• Wiki > Small Is Beautiful: A Study of Economics As If People Mattered

Small Is Beautiful: A Study of Economics As If People Mattered is a collection of essays published in 1973 by German-born British economist E. F. Schumacher. The title “Small Is Beautiful” came from a principle espoused by Schumacher’s teacher Leopold Kohr1 advancing small, appropriate technologies, policies, and polities as a superior alternative to the mainstream ethos of “bigger is better”.

There is in fact a book addressing this question:

• The Relevance of E. F. Schumacher in the 21st Century by John Fullerton, Schumacher Center Essay, 2008 Schumacher Center for a New Economics

Fullerton, John (2016). The Relevance of E. F. Schumacher in the 21st Century (Function). Kindle Edition.

The inevitability of globalization and the dominance of increasingly large and powerful global corporations and financial institutions are an accepted fact of contemporary economic life. Competitive forces pushing us further in this direction continue to build. The benefits of scale are real, furthered by accelerating technological advances. A former CEO of JPMorgan once proclaimed, “Size is not a strategy.” He was wrong. In 2001, an American banking dynasty came to a close with the take-over by Chase Manhattan Bank.

Notes

[1] Re “makers and takers” (the political rhetoric of makers vs. takers)

• That Devil History > “The Ugly History of ‘Makers vs. Takers’ Rhetoric” by Jarretr (October 29, 2013)

• CBS > Face The Nation > “Why Paul Ryan stopped referring to ‘makers’ and ‘takers‘” by Jake Miller (January 9, 2016)

Per the book, Makers and Takers – re entrepreneurs as the most moral of men

• Wiki > Makers and Takers