000 02707 a2200205 4500
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020 _a9780738852522
082 _a339.420973
_bS2C6
100 _aSchwartz, Barry
_9321850
245 _aThe costs of living: how market freedom erodes the best things in life
_cSchwartz, Barry
260 _bXlibris Corporation
_c2000
_aUSA
300 _a399 p.
504 _aTable of contents: 1. The iron cage 2. Business is business 3. And professions are business too 4. And games are business too 5. What we are and what we value 6. Consumed by consumption 7. Economizing on love 8. The "demeaning" of work 9. The debasing of education: turning play into work 10. The selling of democracy: public life and private interests 11. From profits to prophets 12. The name of the game
520 _aIn this book, psychologist Barry Schwartz unravels how market freedom has insidiously expanded its reach into domains where it does not belong. He shows how this trend developed from a misguided application of the American value of individuality and self-pursuit, and how it was aided by our turning away from the basic social institutions that once offered traditional community values. These developments have left us within an overall framework for living where worth is measured entirely by usefulness in the marketplace. The more we allow market considerations to guide our lives, the more we will continue to incur the real costs of living, among them disappointment and loneliness.We all value freedom, family, friends, work, education, health, and leisure—“the best things in life.” But the pressure we experience to chase the dollar in order to satisfy both the demands of the bottom line and the demands of our seemingly insatiable desire to consume are eroding these best things in life. Our children now value profit centers, not sports heroes. Our educational system is fast becoming nothing more than a financial investment where students are encouraged to expend more energy on making the grade than on learning about their world. Our business leaders are turning young idealists into cynics when they cut corners and explain that “everybody’s doing it.” The need to achieve in our careers intrudes so greatly on our personal world that we find ourselves weighing the “costs” of enjoying friendships rather than working. (http://bookstore.xlibris.com/AdvancedSearch/Default.aspx?searchterm=9780738852522)
650 _aConsumers - United States
650 _aCosts - Macroeconomics
650 _aPurchasing power - Cost of living
650 _aConsumer behaviour
942 _2ddc
_cBK
999 _c388907
_d388907