"The Good Society: A Humane Agenda"

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that, knowing the cruelties man has inflicted during this century, much of it due to economic reasons, the reader of John Kenneth Galbraith's "The Good Society: A Humane Agenda" wonders whether the concept of a "good society" was a tongue-in-cheek effort to prove to his readers that this "good society" through a higher standard of life is an unattainable goal. The author points out that this book, which demonstrates the demise of Keynesian economics, is more a morality tale than a book on economics. The paper relates that the difficult task Galbreath sets for himself is to differentiate between what is "perfect" and "ideal" and what is achievable, or in his terms---between the "agreeable irrelevant" and the "ultimately possible", which may well contradict each other.

From the Paper:

"It is idealistic, of course, for anyone trained in economics to proclaim, as Galbreath does, that a good society must provide an upward chance for all, and a reliable economy to sustain employment. This would obviate the "business cycle" of inflation, stagflation, even minor recession. He is, one might comment, a little simplistic when he states the over-obvious: that a steady flow of demand is a vital factor in keeping business going. Of course, if stores sell products customers want, or manufacturers produce goods that are so reasonable to purchase, then the business cycle is on the upswing. What is missing in this idea of a "steady flow" is that manufacturers, given more and improved technology, can now produce higher quality goods more rapidly with robotics and computers that require little or no human assistance, other than supervision. Thus, economics creates the goods at the expense of employment. It is called "downsizing", a word that brings terror to workers and managers alike."

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