Getting and spending conceives the economy and economic acts as essentially social. After a frank look at the benefits and perils of economic abundance, it moves from the universal and inevitable condition of economic scarcity to the need to use material resources and human efficiency. The crucial analysis of this book centers on an understanding of gain-seeking - both as a human drive essential for the economy to function an as a distinctive human appetite which, being prone to sensuality, self-glorification, greed and love of power, must be guided and monitored, especially by the virtues of justice, moderation and spiritual poverty. All of this brought together produces the conclusion that, as divergent as they might sometimes be, moral and economic endeavors can be not only compatible but mutually confirming.--Provided by Amazon.com.

The developing history of consumption is not so much a separate field, as a prism through which many aspects of social and political life may be viewed. The essays in this collection represent a variety of approaches in Europe and America; yet their commonalities suggest recent directions in the scholarship, raising such themes as consumption and democracy, the development of a global economy, the role of the state, the centrality of consumption to Cold War politics, the importance of the Second World War as a historical divide, the language of consumption, the contexts of locality, race, ethnicity, gender, and class, and the environmental consequences of twentieth-century consumer society. Implicitly, and sometimes explicitly, they explore the role of the historian as social, political, and moral critic. The essays discuss products, corporate strategies, government policies, and ideas about consumption. Unlike other studies of twentieth-century consumption, this book provides international comparisons.

The universal lament about money is that there is never enough. We spend endless hours trying to figure out ways to stretch every dollar and kicking ourselves whenever we spend too much or save too little. For all the stress and effort we put into every choice, why are most of us unhappy about our finances? According to Laura Vanderkam, the key is to change your perspective. Instead of looking at money as a scarce resource, consider it a tool that you can use creatively to build a better life for yourself and the people you care about. Drawing on the latest happiness research as well as the stories of dozens of real people, Vanderkam offers a contrarian approach that forces us to examine our own beliefs, goals, and values.