Consume More, Work Longer, and Be Unhappy: Possible Social Roots of Economic Crisis?

Abstract

According to the Negative Endogenous Growth (NEG) model, economic systems are susceptible to economic crises because they produce wealth from the erosion of free and common goods, thus feeding unhappiness, decay in social relations, materialism, and excessive consumption. Our aim is to propose a framework to monitor NEG-type economic growth and to allow a more comprehensive understanding of the origins of the last economic crisis. We review the literature and the evidence supporting NEG, and we analyze data on people’s attitudes and values across countries and over time. We conclude that it is possible to monitor a set of social indicators to identify NEG-type economic growth which may increase the risk of future economic crises.