More from Less (Andrew McAfee)

Books

Main idea

The book claims that rich countries can now generate economic growth and improve quality of life while consuming fewer resources than we did earlier, and uses compelling data to back up that claim.

My main takeaways were:

  1. There are 4 forces encouraging dematerialization in rich countries – technological progress, market forces (specifically, reducing costs by making from less), consumer demand for "greener" products, responsive regulations
  2. Technology and markets are indifferent to externalities. This is why shaping consumer preferences and regulating effectively are important
  3. Historically, Malthus was right. From the 13th to 16th centuries, wages well in England when population rose. This only changed after the Industrial revolution – and the other revolutions (Green, Electricity, Health) that followed
  4. The Industrial Revolution had many negative externalities – pollution, colonialism, animal slaughter, and more
  5. Americans are now consuming fewer resources in general — both per capita and in total (electricity, coal, and more). This is dematerialization. Cement and building materials are still likely flat or increasing. But we are definitely post peak in paper and timber use
  6. Dematerialization is being caused by markets and marvels (inventions). It is driven by massive productivity improvements, as well as the technological/consumer doctrines of Slim, Swap, Optimize, and Evaporate

The parts showing how resource consumption has decreased in rich countries and how technology is untethering economic growth from physical resources were great

I didn’t find the sociopolitical analysis as useful. Would’ve also liked to see more discussion of virtual worlds and their implications for dematerialized growth

Chapters 1-4

Historically, Malthus was right. Wages in England tended to fall as populations rose until 1600 or so

But the Industrial Revolution in the late 18th century changed this. The steam engine and other technologies allowed us to make use of the enormous amounts of energy stored in fossil fuels. Previous limits to growth were eliminated as we put this power to use, and around the world human population and prosperity increased like never before.

However, the Industrial Era was hard on our world. We extracted ever-more resources from it, hunted many species to the brink of extinction or beyond, and greatly polluted the air, land, and water. As human population continued to increase these harms continued to accumulate, until many came to believe that our species was a grave threat to our planet. The first Earth Day, held in 1970, gave voice to these concerns.

Chapter 5 – what's happening now

According to the US Geological Survey (only country where this data is readily available), America now generally uses less metal, fertilizer, water, paper and timber, and energy year after year, even as output grows. This phenomenon is known as dematerialization of the economy

Air and water pollution have also decreased greatly, and many threatened species have seen their numbers rebound. Even greenhouse gas emissions have declined substantially in recent years. The United States, in short, is now getting more from less; the country is post-peak in resource use and other exploitations of the environment. Similar patterns are seen in other rich countries.

Chapters 6-9 – what caused the change?

Essentially, technological progress advanced enough to let companies do more with less. Capitalism’s endless quest for profit is also a relentless search for cost reduction, and resources cost money. The computer and other digital technologies have opened up many ways to save money by reducing resource use (think of how many devices and media types have been replaced by the smartphone, and how solar panels let us get energy without consuming any fossil fuels), and companies in competitive environments have eagerly followed all of these paths.

However, capitalism and tech progress don’t solve all of our environmental problems. They don’t deal well with pollution, which is a negative side effect of a lot of economic activity, and they don’t spare endangered animals. So we need another pair of forces: public awareness and responsive government. Once people become aware of the harms of pollution and the tragedy of species loss they demand action, and responsive governments step in to force pollution reductions and place habitats and animals outside the market. Together capitalism, tech progress, public awareness, and responsive government are the four horsemen of the optimist. When they’re all in place, we tread ever more lightly on our planet.

Chapters 10-13 – Consequences of this change

In addition to dematerialization, the four horsemen are causing three other important changes throughout the world. The first is improvement in both the human condition and the state of nature. Poverty is declining rapidly, as are maternal and child mortality rates. At the same time, access to knowledge, education, food, clean water, and sanitation is increasing in every region. Species loss has slowed down, and large amounts of land and water are being set aside as parks.

The second major change is increased concentration. Over time, more and more of our total output is coming from a smaller and smaller number of counties, farms, and factories. The same is true for companies: across many countries and industries, a small number of companies are winning most of the sales and profits. And of course wealth and income are becoming more concentrated. Capitalism and tech progress are combining to let us do more with less; this also means that more of the spoils of capitalism are going to fewer regions, companies, and people.

The third and most troubling change is greater disconnection -- a decrease over time in the number of relationships and bonds among people. This decline in social capital has many causes. One of them is related to concentration: when farms go fallow and factories close, the work relationships they fostered tend to wither. Recent increases deaths of despair in America and political polarization in many countries show that disconnection has serious consequences.

Chapters 14-15 – What's the Future?

There’s every reason to believe that capitalism and tech progress will cause dematerialization to deepen and broaden.

Our two most urgent priorities are to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (which are a form of air pollution) and work to reverse the disconnection and declines in social capital we’re seeing in many communities.