From Harper's, the specter of a no-growth world: A review of The Age of Abundance: How Prosperity Transformed America’s Politics and Culture by Brink Lindsey; The Moral Consequences of Economic Growth by Benjamin M. Friedman; and Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future by Bill McKibben. From TNR, Cass Sunstein on why policymakers need to understand psychology as much as economics to solve the financial crisis. How the philosophies of a physicist, a wizard and a serial killer warned us of this financial crisis. Harold Bloom on how financial panic influenced the philosophies of Ralph Waldo Emerson. Prosperity theology: Can we blame a Christian branch of evangelicalism for the U.S.'s subprime crisis? Looking for someone to blame in the worsening crisis? Let's go back to Bedford Falls. Rampant consumerism nearly killed off civil society, says Benjamin Barber, but the financial crisis offers us a chance to make amends. How we got in over our heads: Johnna Montgomerie argues our high levels of consumer debt derive more from political decisions than from economic conditions. From the John Templeton Foundation, does the free market corrode moral character? Jagdish Bhagwati, Michael Walzer, Tyler Cowen and others respond. Have yourself committed: The market, combined with technology, can help you help yourself.
