Book Review - Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future

(11/21/2008) - In Deep Economy, Bill McKibben starts with a simple premise - we may want to reconsider that whole economic growth thing.  For one, it is unlikely that the earth’s resources will be able to support U.S. style growth, and the consumption that supports it, for everyone in the world.  If Chinese citizens consumed as much per capita as Americans, they’d use 2/3 of the 2004 grain harvest, 99 million barrels of oil a day (current production stands a hair over 80 mbd), 2.8 billion tons of coal per year (current world production is 2.5 billion tons), and 303 million tons of paper (double world production).  American-style growth for everyone would push the world to the brink, argues McKibben. And China isn’t even the largest country anymore. 

Growth is Not the Answer

But McKibben is no doomsayer, and doesn’t dwell on the physical limitations of growth.  He doesn’t want to be the one to tell the poor of the world that they can’t have what we have.  Deep Economy is an American tale.  Deep Economy argues that even in the United States, growth isn't all its cracked up to be.  We aren't happier and on the whole, we aren't becoming richer either.  For an alternative, McKibben says we need to look toward our local communities.

According to McKibben, the median wage in real dollars for the bottom 90% of American workers has bottomed out since 1979, when the average worker made $27,060.  By 2004, the average had dropped to $25,646, despite the economic growth over that period.  The pro-growth economy just doesn't improve the lives of most Americans anymore, argues McKibben.  Yet growth is still the driving mantra in our politics and in our society. 

What do Americans have to show for this slight drop in our earning power?  McKibben also cites statistics that show the average American is less happy, works more hours, and takes less vacation time than they did in the 1970’s.  Between 1973 and 2000 for example, the average American worker added 199 hours per year to their work schedule. 

Wealth in Communities

To escape this rut, McKibben suggests that we turn our attention and our efforts to building durable communities based around local economies.  He starts with farming and food production.  If you’ve read about the evils of the industrial food system before, you won’t find any new arguments here, though McKibben does include a few good stories. 

For those of you who worry about how we’re going to keep feeding a growing population, McKibben has some comfort for you: “If all you’re worried about is yield per acre, then smaller farms produce more food.”  He cites a study that covered 29 million hectares worth of small farms using “sustainable agriculture” (i.e. far less synthetic fertilizer and pesticides) and found that the average yield increase compared to industrial farms was 93% higher.  Though I smell something fishy (like not properly adjusting for location), it is still tremendously encouraging if off by half.  I’ll get back to you when I’ve had a chance to investigate the source some more.

Deep Economy is not a heavy hitter.  You won’t find technical analysis, graphs, or charts.  McKibben’s appeals to the heart rest on a foundation of well-researched anecdotal evidence that doesn’t always hold up well under scrutiny.  That’s not to say that the case for local communities can’t be made – its that McKibben doesn’t always make it.  His argument is moral, not technical. 

For example, McKibben makes the argument that it would benefit communities to buy food from small, local farms.  There are many reasons to support this notion.  Though it might be a little more expensive and less convenient for the consumer, buying from small, local farms gives farmers a better chance to make a living in a system that would otherwise have them struggling to survive.  U.S. farm policy has turned farmers into modern-day serfs.  When the average contract chicken farmer nets $8,160 a year, it seems to me that the system has been rigged (89% of chickens in the United States are grown under contract). 

Yet while this is all true, McKibben finesses the details to make the point that local economies are better in every respect.  While he makes it clear that going local is not all about money, at the same time tries to argue that buying local benefits the local economy.  This is not always the case.  If you buy local, the argument goes, the money you spend stays in your community.  But this is not all that clear cut.  When we buy locally (whether or not its food), we aren’t buying from a local further away.  If community A doesn’t buy anything from community B, it will be less likely that B will be able to purchase things from A.  Its unclear to me whether or not buying and producing everything locally will really be a net gain for everyone involved.

This is especially true when it comes to environmental gains.  Buying locally grown tomatoes in Vermont is better than buying them from California because it takes a lot of fuel to ship tomatoes 3,000 miles.  While this is true, the thinking is simplistic.  A Vermont tomato grown in the summer without fertilizer or pesticides is fine, but come winter California’s tomatoes begin to start looking a lot greener than those grown in Vermont greenhouses. 

While Deep Economy’s technical arguments are incomplete, I found his moral arguments against our consumerist, growth oriented society compelling.  McKibben cites several studies which show that economic growth and happiness rise together until a country has about $10,000 in per capita income.  After that, the correlation breaks down.  This suggests that pro-growth policies (most likely tempered with a respect for human rights and the environment) make sense for developing countries until the $10,000 mark has been reached.  After that, perhaps we should concentrate on promoting the things that actually make people happy – health, personal connections, leisure time, and the ability to work for something fulfilling.  This, McKibben argues, will require less of an emphasis on what the individual wants for themselves with what is best for the community as a whole.

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