Summary of John Kenneth Galbraith's The Affluent Society

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.

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#1 Wealth is not without its advantages, but it is also the enemy of understanding. The poor man has always had a clear understanding of his problem and its solution: he hasn’t enough and he needs more. The rich man can assume a much greater variety of ills and he will be less certain of their solution.

#2 The first task is to see the way our economic attitudes are rooted in the poverty, inequality, and economic peril of the past. Then we must examine the devices and arguments by which we have managed to maintain an association with the older ideas, which stemmed from a world where nearly all were poor.

#3 This essay is not an angry one. It does not lack in that beguiling modesty which is so much in fashion in social comment. It contains many negative thoughts, and they cannot but strike a discordant note in a world of positive thinking.

#4 The problems of an affluent world that does not understand itself may be serious, but they are not as serious as those of a poor world where the simple exigencies of poverty preclude the luxury of misunderstanding.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Mar 25, 2022
• ISBN: 9781669372950

IRB Media

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Insights on John Kenneth Galbraith's The Affluent Society

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 4

Insights from Chapter 5

Insights from Chapter 6

Insights from Chapter 7

Insights from Chapter 8

Insights from Chapter 9

Insights from Chapter 10

Insights from Chapter 11

Insights from Chapter 12

Insights from Chapter 13

Insights from Chapter 14

Insights from Chapter 15

Insights from Chapter 16

Insights from Chapter 17

Insights from Chapter 18

Insights from Chapter 19

Insights from Chapter 20

Insights from Chapter 21

Insights from Chapter 22

Insights from Chapter 23

Insights from Chapter 24

Insights from Chapter 25

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

Wealth is not without its advantages, but it is also the enemy of understanding. The poor man has always had a clear understanding of his problem and its solution: he hasn’t enough and he needs more. The rich man can assume a much greater variety of ills and he will be less certain of their solution.

#2

The first task is to see the way our economic attitudes are rooted in the poverty, inequality, and economic peril of the past. Then we must examine the devices and arguments by which we have managed to maintain an association with the older ideas, which stemmed from a world where nearly all were poor.

#3

This essay is not an angry one. It does not lack in that beguiling modesty which is so much in fashion in social comment. It contains many negative thoughts, and they cannot but strike a discordant note in a world of positive thinking.

#4

The problems of an affluent world that does not understand itself may be serious, but they are not as serious as those of a poor world where the simple exigencies of poverty preclude the luxury of misunderstanding.

Insights from Chapter 2

#1

The first requirement for an understanding of contemporary economic and social life is a clear view of the relation between events and the ideas which interpret them. Economic and social phenomena are so forbidding that they provide little hard testing of what exists and what does not.

#2

The Conventional Wisdom is the set of accepted ideas that are common among most people. It is highly predictable, and people typically accept it because it is convenient and self-enhancing.

#3

The conventional wisdom is not the property of any political group. It is expressed on all levels of sophistication, and it is extremely difficult to challenge the framework itself.

#4

The hallmark of the conventional wisdom is acceptability. It has the approval of those to whom it is addressed. It is