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 Prescient Man with a Plan October 5, 2008
A good measure of a book is its applicability and relevance beyond the immediate scope or historical context. I had to read this book as part of my MSc course in Sustainable Development. Schumacher rightly predicted many of the issues now at the forefront of environmental economics: the political/social/oil problems of relying on exports/imports, the energy crisis, dual economies in developing countries and the associated social unrest, and most importantly, the problems of conventional wisdom/paradigm inertia in classical economics. Overall, great book that is refreshingly original economic thinking when compared to the jargon and rubbish in introductory economics textbooks. Writers like Schumacher, John Kenneth Galbraith, etc, help restore economics to a useful and engaging subject. For further reading: his musings and recommendations for local production for local needs can be explored further in Peter Kropotkin's writings.
 Small is Beautiful September 21, 2008
This book is a life changing read. I would highly recommend it to anyone who is has some travelling experience within the third world, or an interest in developing countries.
a highly influential book in the environmental and social justice movements April 18, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I found EF Schumacher's `Small is Beautiful - a study of economics as if people mattered' in a secondhand bookshop and bought it because the title really resonated with me. I knew nothing about it at the time, but it turns out it's been a highly influential book in the environmental and social justice movements.
First published in 1973 in the wake of the oil crisis, Schumacher's collection of essays was very formative in the understanding of sustainability. Some of the figures may be out of date, but it remains a passionate and radical view of economics even today, especially in the light of current oil prices, and something of a fulfilment of the resource depletion scenarios he foresaw.
I leave you with a quote:
"An attitude to life which seeks fulfilment in the single-minded pursuit of wealth - in short, materialism - does not fit into this world, because it contains within itself no limiting principle, while the environment in which it is placed is strictly limited."
still inspiring June 29, 2005
15 out of 16 found this review helpful
I realized recently that this book has shaped my thinking for all the years ( more than 30) since I have read it, and I measure nearly all attempts at development in its light. (Sadly, not much measures up.) Somehow, it has not become obvious to all that exporting the high-cost- in so many ways- technology and lifestyle of the West is not going to work, but when it does become obvious, it will be the wisdom of this book that will be the guide. Its beauty lies in that it doesn't suggest particular solutions, but the principles to guide the strategies. Now that I have gotten older, and am accumulating some means to help, it will be projects of the recommended intermediate technology, that will the head the list of ideas I support. Read the book and be inspired.
Uncommon sense June 28, 2004
26 out of 26 found this review helpful
The point of this book is to assault what is meant by progress and try and understand what has gone wrong when we live in almost obscene wealth while large parts of the planet barely get by. This book is a call to arms, to understand things we all seem to have forgotten: what is value? what actually matters in life? should the means always justify the ends? what is work for? and who put all these economists in charge? I doubt most readers will agree with everything, but the writing is plain, unfussy and easy to read and still very persuasive. Schumacher appeals to uncommon sense: our feeling of how the world should be. And, unlike the other armchair-revolutionaries, he has actually tried to make it happen. To cap it all, Buddhist economics is the most beautful idea i've come across in ages. Highly recommended.
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