Interdisciplinary Journal of Partnership Studies

Media Review: Three Books on a New Economics: A German Perspective

Ulrike Brandhorst

DOI: https://doi.org/10.24926/ijps.v4i1.157

Keywords: economic models, caring economy, post-growth economy, common good, psychological and behavioral factors, dominator, partnership, sustainability, women's rights

Abstract

The first part of this paper presents the ideas of Niko Paech and Christian Felber, two popular exponents of alternative economic models in Germany and Austria. Both authors invoke psychological and behavioral factors, noting that our current economic system is leaving people dependent, unhappy, and dissatisfied, and that this system’s values are contradictory to our constitutional and fundamental values. The book presented in the second part of the paper helps understand this absurdity. It’s Riane Eisler’s The Real Wealth of Nations: Creating a Caring Economics, in which she explains how we can reach an understanding of connections that are still largely invisible, and change the mindsets responsible for replicating harmful behavior and policies reflected in our current economic system.