Dec 24, 2009

The War Against the Trees | Compare and Contrast

1958: The Affluent Society, by Harvard economics professor John Kenneth Galbraith, decries the overemphasis on consumer goods in the U.S. economy and the use of advertising to create artificial demand for such goods. More of the nation’s wealth should be allocated to the public, says Galbraith.

1999: The Overspent American: Why We Want What We Don’t Need by Juliet Schor shows how keeping up with the Joneses has evolved from keeping pace with one’s neighbors and those in a similar social strata, to keeping up with coworkers who earn five...