On The Edge Of Scarcity

Modernization and Industrialization have presented the human race with many problems, inflicting deprivation, poverty, war and premature death on millions of people. Until recently, however, solutions were achievable. Drawn from the much-acclaimed Coming Age of Scarcity and adapted here for general classroom use, this work will be an ideal introduction to courses in population, environment and resources, genocide studies, and social conflict. As we enter the twenty-first century, several components converge, namely population, land for cultivation, energy resources, and environmental carrying capacity. Michael N. Dobkowski and Isidor Wallimann establish a realistic projection of the disastrous future that awaits humankind as surplus populations collide with dwindling resources. Scholars from a variety of disciplines investigate the problems and suggest ways to maximize individual and collective survival, discussing cause-and-effect scenarios concerning industrialization, biophysical limits, exponential population growth, and genocide.

A surprising and intriguing examination of how scarcity—and our flawed responses to it—shapes our lives, our society, and our culture Why do successful people get things done at the last minute? Why does poverty persist? Why do organizations get stuck firefighting? Why do the lonely find it hard to make friends? These questions seem unconnected, yet Sendhil Mullainathan and Eldar Shafir show that they are all examples of a mind-set produced by scarcity. Drawing on cutting-edge research from behavioral science and economics, Mullainathan and Shafir show that scarcity creates a similar psychology for everyone struggling to manage with less than they need. Busy people fail to manage their time efficiently for the same reasons the poor and those maxed out on credit cards fail to manage their money. The dynamics of scarcity reveal why dieters find it hard to resist temptation, why students and busy executives mismanage their time, and why sugarcane farmers are smarter after harvest than before. Once we start thinking in terms of scarcity and the strategies it imposes, the problems of modern life come into sharper focus. Mullainathan and Shafir discuss how scarcity affects our daily lives, recounting anecdotes of their own foibles and making surprising connections that bring this research alive. Their book provides a new way of understanding why the poor stay poor and the busy stay busy, and it reveals not only how scarcity leads us astray but also how individuals and organizations can better manage scarcity for greater satisfaction and success.

In this urgent time, World on the Edge calls out the pivotal environmental issues and how to solve them now. We are in a race between political and natural tipping points. Can we close coal-fired power plants fast enough to save the Greenland ice sheet and avoid catastrophic sea level rise? Can we raise water productivity fast enough to halt the depletion of aquifers and avoid water-driven food shortages? Can we cope with peak water and peak oil at the same time? These are some of the issues Lester R. Brown skilfully distils in World on the Edge. Bringing decades of research and analysis into play, he provides the responses needed to reclaim our future.

With food supplies tightening, countries are competing for the land and water resources needed to feed their people. With food scarcity driven by falling water tables, eroding soils, and rising temperatures, control of arable land and water resources is moving to center stage in the global struggle for food security. “In this era of tightening world food supplies, the ability to grow food is fast becoming a new form of geopolitical leverage. Food is the new oil,” Lester R. Brown writes. What will the geopolitics of food look like in a new era dominated by scarcity and food nationalism? Brown outlines the political implications of land acquisitions by grain-importing countries in Africa and elsewhere as well as the world’s shrinking buffers against poor harvests. With wisdom accumulated over decades of tracking agricultural issues, Brown exposes the increasingly volatile food situation the world is facing.

In a past of abundance, we had clean water to meet our demands for showers, pools, farms and rivers. Our laws and customs did not need to regulate or ration demand. Over time, our demand has grown, and scarcity has replaced abundance. We don't have as much clean water as we want. We can respond to the end of abundance with old ideas or adopt new tools specifically designed to address water scarcity.In this book, David Zetland describes the impact of scarcity on our many water uses, how the institutions of abundance fail in scarcity, and how economic ideas and tools can help us direct water to its highest and best use. Written for non-academic readers, The End of Abundance provides examples, insights and ideas to anyone interested in the management of our most precious resource.

Why can we never seem to keep on top of our workload, social diary or chores? Why does poverty persist around the world? Why do successful people do things at the last minute in a sudden rush of energy? Here, economist Sendhil Mullainathan and psychologist Eldar Shafir reveal that the hidden side behind all these problems is that they're all about scarcity. Using the new science of scarcity, they will change the way you think about both the little everyday tasks and the big issues of global urgency. 'It's the scarcity trap, and you need to know about it.' New Scientist, Books of the Year 'The finest combination of heart and head that I have seen.' Daniel Kahneman, author of Thinking, Fast and Slow 'A captivating book, overflowing with new ideas, fantastic stories, and simple suggestions that just might change the way you live.' Steven D. Levitt, coauthor of Freakonomics 'A highly original and easily readable book that is full of intriguing insights. What does a single mom trying to make partner at a major law firm have in common with a peasant who spends half her income on interest payments? The answer is scarcity. Read this book to learn the surprising ways in which scarcity affects us all.' Richard Thaler, co-author of Nudge 'Extraordinarily illuminating, important, novel and immensely creative.' Cass R. Sunstein, New York Review of Books 'Ultimately humane and very welcome.' Oliver Burkeman, Guardian

“Giv[es] a taste of what abundance feels like, and a set of Somatic practices that lead readers to transform this state into a permanent trait.” —Dana Carman, Founding Partner of Pacific Integral, Organizational Consultant, Educator, and Social Activist In her own life and through her work with others, Victoria Castle has repeatedly encountered the tragic theme of “not-enough-ness”—both the “I am not enough” and “There is not enough” varieties—and witnessed how it cripples even the most buoyant and passionate people among us. Castle calls this blight the Trance of Scarcity. It shows up in a hundred personalized versions, but the results are always the same. Instead of expressing our brilliance and creativity, we show the world only the by-products of oppression, isolation, exclusion, and defeat. We spend our time lamenting the way things are, justifying all the reasons they can’t be different. In this inspiring and very personal book, Castle shows that there is life on the other side of the Trance—a life characterized by vitality, fulfillment, and efficacy. She shares specific practices you can use to change your story—to identify and interrupt negative, constraining patterns and replace them with more positive and liberating ones to achieve greater freedom, fulfillment, and satisfaction. With compassion and surprising humor, The Trance of Scarcity will help you embody abundance as your way of being. Once you do, you’ll be more inspired and more inspiring, you’ll build bridges to replace dead ends, and you’ll easily arrive at solutions to issues that once overwhelmed you. Having broken free from the Trance of Scarcity, you’ll be able to live a life where ease and plenty emanate from you as naturally as your breath

From an internationally acclaimed economist, a provocative call to jump-start economic growth by aggressively overhauling liberal democracy Around the world, people who are angry at stagnant wages and growing inequality have rebelled against established governments and turned to political extremes. Liberal democracy, history's greatest engine of growth, now struggles to overcome unprecedented economic headwinds--from aging populations to scarce resources to unsustainable debt burdens. Hobbled by short-term thinking and ideological dogma, democracies risk falling prey to nationalism and protectionism that will deliver declining living standards. In Edge of Chaos, Dambisa Moyo shows why economic growth is essential to global stability, and why liberal democracies are failing to produce it today. Rather than turning away from democracy, she argues, we must fundamentally reform it. Edge of Chaos presents a radical blueprint for change in order to galvanize growth and ensure the survival of democracy in the twenty-first century.