The perils of prosperity
Source: The Economist
April 27th 2006 (Adapted)

    Midway through the first decade of the 21st century, economic growth is pulling millions out of poverty. Growth, so devoutly desired yet often so elusive for developing countries, is occurring in China and India on a heroic scale. Yet once affluence is achieved, its value is often questioned. In the 1960s and 1970s, economists started worrying about environmental and social limits to growth. Now Avner Offer, professor of economic history at Oxford University, has added a weighty new critique to this tradition.
    “The Challenge of Affluence” accepts that the populations of poor countries gain from growth, but says that the main benefits of prosperity are achieved at quite modest levels. Its central thesis is that rising living standards in Britain and America have engendered impatience, which undermines well-being. The fruits of affluence are bitter ones, and include addiction, obesity, family breakdown and mental disorders.