Beyond Apologies: Defining and Achieving an Economics of Wellbeing

By Debra Efroymson

Debra Efroymson's book, Beyond Apologies, is a must read for development practitioners and social justice advocates working to question mainstream development policies and programs. Efroymson deftly combines a historical review of the unintended consequences of diverse poverty alleviation initiatives from around the world with a sharp analysis of current policy debates and a logically-drawn road map for fundamentally changing how practitioners should think about development. The book is engagingly written and holds a treasure trove of illustrative cases and data points that oblige the international development community to rethink economic assumptions and assess how policy incoherence is driving counterproductive impact and harming the poor.

This new edition of Beyond Apologies is shorter than the original. It also introduces We Squared clubs, which were started to promote the ideas in this book and to help people find ways to take action. The full version, which contains more examples, in-depth discussion, and numerous illustrative quotes, is available online and in printed form.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Debra Efroymson
• Release date: May 21, 2017
• ISBN: 9781370183067

Debra Efroymson

Debra Efroymson is Regional Director of the Canadian NGO HealthBridge and advisor to Work for a Better Bangladesh Trust and the Institute of Wellbeing. Debra has lived and worked in Asia since 1994. She has written about and spoken extensively on the issues of tobacco control, sexuality and reproductive health, urban planning, transport policy, and economics. In her book Beyond Apologies: Defining and Achieving an Economics of Wellbeing, she addresses thirteen major myths about economics, including that economic growth is vital and that GDP says something meaningful about people’s wellbeing. In addition to busting each myth, she provides suggestions for a better way to look at each issue and ideas on activism. The book draws on her many years of research as well as personal experience guiding policy-oriented research and advocacy across Latin America, Africa and Asia.

Book preview

Acknowledgments

This book would not have been possible without the generosity of many people who contributed their ideas and stories. Their courage and fortitude in the face of life’s obstacles are inspiring. Stimulating debates with colleagues, friends, acquaintances, and strangers helped me to think through and clarify my arguments.

Heartfelt thanks to Saifuddin Ahmed and all the staff at Work for a Better Bangladesh (WBB) Trust and the Institute of Wellbeing (IWB) in Dhaka, who have given me the opportunity to learn firsthand about the frustration and exhilaration of advocating for policies to promote wellbeing. I would also like to thank my colleagues at the HealthBridge Foundation of Canada (at which I have worked since 1995), who gave me the much needed personal space and time to dedicate to this book.

Warm thanks to all those who have helped me to start and activate the We Squared Clubs, particularly Abraham Thomas, Noel Benno, and Mandy Mukhuti.

Particularly warm thanks go to my wonderful friends and editors Kennie Lyman and Lori Jones. I can never thank you both enough for all of your patience, guidance, and support. Where I have failed to express myself clearly or to follow your excellent advice, the fault is entirely my own.

INTRODUCTION: Why It Is Important To Learn About Economics

A Quick Economics Overview

Wealth and squalor

Governments spend hundreds of billions of dollars each year on weapons systems and wars, yet say they cannot afford to provide decent sanitation for their citizens. During global recession, the number of billionaires continues to increase. People are told that what matters to wellbeing—health, the environment, conservation of natural resources, and resilient communities — has no economic value.

Pollution is considered a necessary economic by-product. Environmentalists are treated as nuisances. Global meetings on climate change fail to result in meaningful action because ‘economic’ interests consistently take priority.

Wealth and power accumulate in the hands of the rich, while others struggle to survive. Pharmaceutical companies focus on minor ailments of the rich while ignoring the diseases that destroy countless lives among the poor. People spend huge sums on soft drinks and bottled water, yet over a billion people lack access to clean and safe water.

The planet’s resources and ability to absorb waste are finite. As more wealth is concentrated in the hands of the few, less is available for everyone else. While half of the world’s adults collectively own just one percent of the $125 trillion in global wealth, the richest one percent of adults own forty percent of it, and the richest ten percent own eighty-five percent.[1]

The growth in inequality has serious social and health consequences: homelessness, violence, infant mortality, mental illness, and imprisonment.[2] Destruction of the natural environment and depletion of natural resources spells poverty for future generations. Those who oppose the notion of ‘progress at any cost’ are treated as though they should apologize for their ‘backward thinking.’

Can we afford to ignore the environment?

Tropical storms and other extreme weather events are increasing in number and intensity. Globally, temperatures are rising. The question is not whether saving the environment is affordable, but how much environmental destruction can people inflict before humankind’s ability to survive on the planet has been completely undermined.

Why we must understand economics to increase wellbeing

Economics affects the environment and human wellbeing. The widely accepted procedure for measuring national wealth (Gross Domestic Product or GDP) reflects mainstream economic values. The focus on GDP means that economic activities that are environmentally or socially destructive count as a contribution to national ‘wealth’ because they generate financial gain for someone. This system also portrays policies designed to protect health, the environment, or the poor as actions for which one must apologize. People need to understand the existing economic logic better in order to counter it with alternatives that focus on the values of wellbeing and environmental sustainability.

Mainstream economics: handmaiden to the rich & powerful

For the elites to maintain their extreme wealth, they need an economic ideology that defends their position from those who seek to redistribute wealth more evenly. Mainstream economics serves that purpose.

Mainstream economists argue that people’s selfishness, consumption, and inequality directly benefit others by stimulating the economy and creating jobs. These economists argue that social programs designed to support and benefit the poor discourage people from working. They suggest that society should focus on providing the conditions that will allow the few to get richer rather than work directly towards a system in which all can lead a decent existence.

The mainstream approach to economics is, however, full of mistruths and contradictions. Mainstream economists claim they support free trade, but also support tariffs and subsidies. They say they want small government, but in fact want a government of the corporations.

Mainstream economists directly advise government leaders and policymakers around the world. They also develop policies for global institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Thus, mainstream economists exert their influence globally while corporations become more powerful than national governments.

Identifying economic myths and learning to counter them

Society cannot get to a better place without looking at what is holding it back. People need to learn to identify some widely accepted myths about economics and to replace them with realities that will lead to an economics of wellbeing. People need to understand that acting in the interests of the environment will not cause economic slowdown or job loss. They need to understand that tax cuts for the wealthy do not stimulate the economy. They need to stop apologizing for believing in something better, and learn to counter their opponents’ arguments effectively. Economic myths persist not because they are true, but because they allow the rich to maintain the status quo.

Notes about this Book

A note about terms

Throughout this book, I refer not to high-income and low-income countries but rather to high-consumption and low-consumption ones. Referring to countries by income level puts too much emphasis on money and not enough on wellbeing. The countries with the highest per capita incomes tend to be the ones that use the most resources and contribute the most to climate change.

Some pros and cons of using numbers to prove a point

One must handle numbers with great care. It is far too easy to manipulate the same set of numbers to support any argument. One can carefully choose which figures to use while ignoring other data. Similarly, some economic measures sound compelling but in fact have little validity, such as per capita income (which ignores real income gaps).

I do not mean to discredit numbers entirely; they are vital for comparisons and evaluation. Life expectancy and literacy rates demonstrate something real and important about a specific country’s situation. We simply have to use numbers with caution.

A note about myself

I grew up in the United States, but have spent most of my adult life outside of it. I spent two years in Guatemala as a Peace Corps volunteer working on public health and nutrition projects. I worked part-time for the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), which gave me the opportunity to spend a couple months in South America. In 1994 I moved to Asia; I have lived and worked for four years in Vietnam, two in Sri Lanka, and the rest in Dhaka, Bangladesh. I have also had the opportunity to travel in Africa, Europe, and elsewhere in Asia.

My background is in public health but I have worked on a range of policies and programs involving urban and transport planning, tobacco control, and reproductive health. This work has made me painfully aware of the lack of priority often given to health, and particularly disease prevention, in part because of intensive lobbying by corporations that enrich themselves through pushing deadly products. I remain surprised that corporations can be more powerful than governments and that Ministries of Finance, Trade, and Industry have vastly more power than Ministries of Health, Children, or the Environment.

I have spent the last several years in an informal study of economics. Observation of daily life in different countries, listening to others, and extensive reading have helped to shape the ideas that this book presents.

What I hope to achieve in this book

Economics is a huge field; I only touch on relatively few issues here. I address some of the gaps that typically occur within traditional economic explanations. I question whether some of the most common measures that people use in discussions about economics are valid. I offer alternatives that would yield measures that more accurately reflect wellbeing. I introduce some of the ideas and campaigns of We Squared. In short, I look beyond apologies and seek ways to define and achieve an economics of wellbeing.

A short introduction to We Squared (WE²)

We Squared (WE²) stands for Wellbeing & Equality for Everyone. The Institute of Wellbeing (IWB) has started WE² clubs in order to help people find a practical way to apply the ideas in this book.

The WE² slogan is Challenge, Resist, Regain. That is:

Challenge the economic system that says that economic growth is all-important, economic inequality is fine, and environmental devastation is a necessary price for prosperity.

Resist the control that big corporations exert over governments and individuals.

Regain our independence to create strong local businesses and live in nurturing, welcoming, inclusive communities.

These ideas may sound find in the abstract, but how are we to put them into action? A long-term goal ofWE² is to change major economics paradigms and measure progress in a more meaningful way. In the shorter term, WE²organizes campaigns that allow people to bring about positive change while realizing the slogan of Challenge, Resist, Regain. Our current campaigns are:

• Parklets: Reduce the damage cars cause in our cities by creating small, temporary or permanent parks in the space of one or more car parking spaces.

• Carfree cities: Resist the control of the companies that sell cars, motorbikes, and fuel, and that build car-based road infrastructure by eliminating cars, motorbikes, and most other motorized vehicles from cities. Regain safe, convenient, and pleasant travel in less polluted and friendlier cities.

• Revolt Against Plastics: Reduce the power of plastics corporations and regain traditional practices by banning single-use plastics used for food and beverages (plastic water bottles, cups, plates, cutlery, and so on).

• Urban gardening: Take the first step in reclaiming the food supply from the grip of huge corporations. Grow more of our own food, right at our homes, without chemicals.

To learn more or join us, find us on Facebook or visit www.wesquared.club

Dedications

Dedication #1

I dedicate this book to my dear friend and inspiration Carlo Fonseka, formerly Chairman of the National Authority on Tobacco and Alcohol (NATA) in Sri Lanka.

Dedication #2

In addition, I dedicate this book to anyone who has argued at the dinner table with family and friends that government intervention is more effective than the ‘free market’ in helping the less fortunate — and has been laughed at in consequence. I hope this book will help all of you win such arguments, or at least amply befuddle your opponents.

Dedication #3

Finally, I would like to dedicate this book to all the people who have taught me that sometimes those with the least are the most generous, with their possessions, their smiles, their knowledge, and all those other forms of wealth that typically go uncounted.

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A Short Story about National Accounting Systems

Prakash is a farmer. He and his family are poor, but they own a small piece of land with a fishpond, and they have a house and a bicycle. Life is difficult and they all work hard, but they have enough to get by.

One day a wealthy businessman’s car breaks down near Prakash’s house. While the driver fixes the car, the businessman takes a rest under one of Prakash’s trees and engages him in conversation. On seeing how little money Prakash has, the businessman suggests that he could help. Let me buy your bicycle, he offers, and then you will have some extra cash to spend. You could buy your wife and children new clothes, maybe spoil yourself a little.Prakash shakes his head. "If I sell my bicycle, how will I take my