Since the end of the Second World War, industrial economic activity has been generated on an unparalleled scale. This continuous search for yet greater output and productivity has been the dominant policy objective of practically every country in the world for the past 50 years. However, there is a cost for industrial growth on this scale and the price has been and is being paid in widespread social and cultural disruption and potentially catastrophic effects on the global environment. Real Life Economics challenges traditional economic theories which endorse this state of affairs and...