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Small Is Beautiful: A Study of Economics as if People Mattered Paperback – 16 Sep 1993

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E F Schumacher (Author)
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E F Schumacher (Author), Jonathan Porritt (Introduction)
4.6 out of 5 stars 59 customer reviews
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Product details

  • Paperback: 288 pages
  • Publisher: Vintage; New edition (16 Sept. 1993)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0099225611
  • ISBN-13: 978-0099225614
  • Product Dimensions: 12.9 x 1.8 x 19.8 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (59 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 20,166 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Product Description

Review

"A book of heart and hope and downright common sense about the future." (Peter Lewis Daily Mail)

Book Description

A remarkable classic study of world economies, reissued to celebrate the centenary of E. F. Schumacher's birth.

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Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsUncommon sense
By ZDDQ140770 VINE VOICE on 28 Jun. 2004
Format: Paperback
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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5.0 out of 5 starsShould Be on the School Curriculum!
By Sir Furboy on 10 July 2009
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
This book should be required reading in schools - it is that good. Insightful, clear and to the point, the author's analysis of the issues is as relevant today as it was when he wrote it.

His basic premise is that fossil fuels are capital , and yet we consume it like it is a revenue stream, and this is ultimately destructive. Instead we should spend our capital resources in order to create the infrastructure for sustainability.

This book inspired the organic movement, and is the intellectual basis of so much of environmentalism. We ignore its lessons at our peril.
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5.0 out of 5 starsInsightful and still relevant
By Steven Unwin TOP 500 REVIEWER on 4 Sept. 2011
Format: Paperback
I read this book back-to-back with another book by Schumacher, A Guide for the Perplexed. Though Small is Beautiful is the title for which he is most well known, my strong preference was for the latter title.

Small is Beautiful is the earlier book and is rightly recognised as a key instigator of what we might call `grown-up' environmental awareness. The subtitle of the book `Economics as if People Mattered' reflects the aim of the book in extending economic thinking beyond purely traditional financial factors. Central to this is the acknowledgement of the value of natural capital as an input to economic production. For example the air, water and other natural resources that traditional economics assumes to be free and abundant.

The `small is beautiful ` of the title refers to Schumacher's argument that we should steer away from a belief that technology can be relied upon to solve whatever problems we throw in its direction and that decentralization as a way to bring the human touch back into the equation of business.

Schumacher makes a strong case for the value of intermediate technology, or perhaps appropriate technology, which not only delivers desired outcomes, but does so in ways that are in harmony with the broader needs of the communities where the technology is applied. For example, however valuable the finished constructed project, a JCB used in its construction may do the work of 100 men, but is of questionable value if in a developing country those 100 men have nothing to do but watch the JCB, and it is driven by a worker imported from overseas.

The book, though perhaps a little dated, is a good read, and essential reading for anyone wanting to question the dominance of single minded profit based economics.Read more ›
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3.0 out of 5 starsExcellent in places, but accompanied by naive metaphysics.
By A. Wickens on 13 Dec. 2011
Format: Paperback
I had a hard time deciding what rating to give this book. At times it was both engaging and plausible, at others it was so infuriating I had to put it down and come back with lowered expectations. The book was made by sewing several essays together, and as such reads more like an anthology than a single treatise. Schumacher passes through a variety of subjects trying to make his point, and he reveals that he is very willing to make very strong assumptions in some areas to further his argument. He invokes God at least three times and has a list which appears to cite both evolution and relativism as corrupting influences on society. An entire chapter on "Education" is in actuality dedicated to stressing the importance of our (the West's) social and moral "classical-Christian inheritance". He ends up sounding generally anti-science, and especially dismissive of Physics and Mathematics. I got pretty angry at his flat assertion that nobody misses out on anything by not knowing the laws of thermodynamics. I wanted a book about economics, criticising economic thought from within and without, and I feel he went outside the scope of his understanding here.

My review may seem harsh, and overly focused on minor details, but the problem is that I have a background in philosophy and mathematics and not in economics. As such, I am not guaranteed to detect specious reasoning in writing about economics, so (from my perspective) the inclusion of his fumbling and quite dogmatic attempt at metaphysics has cast doubt over the whole enterprise. I enjoyed his thoughts on Development, Intermediate Technology and Scott Bader; taxation though equity ownership is an interesting idea; and of course his views on the environment were very prescient.

It probably deserves five stars "for its time", but for reading as a modern person, three seems fair. Some great food for thought with some dubious company.
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5.0 out of 5 starsa highly influential book in the environmental and social justice movements
By Jeremy Williams on 18 April 2008
Format: Paperback
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."
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

1.0 out of 5 starsIT WAS THE WORST "PUT TOGETHER BOOK EVER" HOWEVER MY BROTHER LOVED AND...

THE BOOK HAD ALL THE PAGES UPSIDE DOWN AND STARTED AT THE BACK OF THE BOOK.IT WAS THE WORST "PUT TOGETHER BOOK EVER" HOWEVER MY BROTHER LOVED AND KEPT IT TO WARN OTHERS.

Published 1 month ago by S. James
5.0 out of 5 starsGood to read and compare with John Micheal Greer's recent ...

Written decades ago but very relevant today. Schumacher knew back then about the limits to growth on planet Earth and the nonsense of our extravagant use of fossil fuels. Read more

Published 1 month ago by Marlyn T.
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Studying finance you only think of the mathematics and the numbers. It is refreshing to read an economist, though being a man of a different time, returns the human being to the... Read more

Published 2 months ago by Cyrus Pieris
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

good value fro money

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5.0 out of 5 starsBrilliant book. It should be taught to all students ...

Brilliant book. It should be taught to all students regardless of their discipline.

Published 8 months ago by J. Powell
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Links well with Peter Levines work on trauma. Good coverage of neuroscience .

Published 8 months ago by Jacqui
5.0 out of 5 starsEnjoyed the book very much

Very quick to deliver. Enjoyed the book very much!

Published 8 months ago by Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 starsOne of the best business books I have ever read

One of the best business books I have ever read. This book has contributed to my understanding of public policy, the panama papers, environmentalism, economics, etc. Read more

Published 10 months ago by Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

Excellent book.

Published 13 months ago by suz
5.0 out of 5 starsHugely influential book and a must read for anyone interested ...

Hugely influential book and a must read for anyone interested in environmental issues. I read 'Small Is Beautiful' over 30 years ago and still refer to this book because it is so... Read more

Published 14 months ago by Amazon Customer

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