Why things are going to get worse…
and why we should be glad
First published in 2014 by
New Internationalist Publications Ltd
The Old Music Hall
106-108 Cowley Road
Oxford OX4 1JE, UK
newint.org
© Michael Roscoe
The right of Michael Roscoe to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1998.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission in writing of the Publisher.
Design: Ian Nixon
Imprint editor: Chris Brazier
All illustrations are by the author
who hold environmental accreditation ISO 14001.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 978-1-78026-177-5
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.
Contents
Basic economics; GDP explained
A brief history of money and debt
The growth of finance; derivatives explained
7 FROM WAREHOUSE TO WHOREHOUSE
Early industry and the dawn of trade
8 MEASURING WEALTH
The accumulation of wealth and the importance of oil
PART TWO: WHY THINGS ARE GOING TO GET WORSE
9 WEALTH AND WORK
The productivity problem; was Marx right?
10 THE TECHNOLOGY DILEMMA
Why real jobs are in decline
11 VIRTUAL VALUES
The internet as job killer
12 LIVING IN NEVER-NEVER LAND
Bubble trouble and the debt of nations
13 THE DECLINE OF EUROPE
The Eurozone debt problem and lessons from Japan
14 A RACE WITH NO WINNERS
The high price of cheap goods
15 THE CASE FOR PUBLIC ENTERPRISE
Socialism is not a dirty word
16 TEN REASONS WHY THE RICH WORLD IS GETTING POORER
Summary, parts 1&2
PART THREE: WHY WE SHOULD BE GLAD
17 ECONOMY OR ECOLOGY?
More jobs, less fossil-fuel use
18 LIFE WITHOUT OIL
So what are the alternatives to fossil fuels?
19 TIME TO CHANGE THE SYSTEM
Re-evaluation of values; jobs first
20 REDISTRIBUTING WEALTH
Why the rich have too much
21 JOBS WITHOUT GROWTH
Politics that work; why we need global regulation
22 WHERE NEXT?
Likely trends; why the US will stay on top
23 IS THERE A BETTER WAY?
Conclusions
Summary of Part 3
A few words about the author (by the author)
Index
This book came about because I wanted to explain to my children why things were getting tougher, why it was that I’d been made redundant for the third time and was having trouble finding work; why a lot of the things we’d taken for granted in our lives would no longer be affordable.
I’d been thinking for some time about the tendency for technology to kill jobs (including