Economic Growth: Unleashing the Potential of Human Flourishing (Values and Capitalism) - Paperback

by Edd S. Noell (Author), Stephen L. S. Smith (Author), Bruce G. Webb (Author)

For almost 10,000 years of recorded history, most people had to eke out a living in pain and difficulty. But today, the deep poverty that was the global norm for most of human history is almost entirely foreign to citizens of the developed world. What caused this burst of prosperity? What has been its impact? In Economic Growth: Unleashing the Potential of Human Flourishing, Edd S. Noell, Stephen L. S. Smith, and Bruce G. Webb make a comprehensive case for economic growth, equipping readers with an understanding of not only its pragmatic benefits but also its moral dimensions. The authors offer empirical evidence from the past two centuries showing the relationship between growth and human well-being, greater global income equality, and environmental improvements and sustainability. They make the case that economic growth is key to lifting societies from dire poverty to prosperity and holds the promise of sustaining unreached levels of human flourishing.

Author Biography

Edd S. Noell is chair of the Department of Economics at Westmont College. He has published (with Jim Halteman) Reckoning with Markets: Moral Reflection in Economics (Oxford UP, 2012) and serves as an associate editor of Faith & Economics. Noell's teaching and research interests center around the history of economic thought and financial markets. Stephen L. S. Smith is professor of economics at Gordon College and a former visiting scholar at the US International Trade Commission. His teaching and research focus on international economics and economic development. Smith is coeditor of Faith & Economics, published by the Association of Christian Economists. Bruce G. Webb is professor of economics, emeritus, at Gordon College where he taught macroeconomics for 35 years prior to his retirement in 2012. A financial market specialist, he is also a leading scholar of the morality of markets and economic systems. A founding member of the Association of Christian Economists, he served as coeditor of that association's journal, Faith & Economics, for 17 years.