Small Is Beautiful
A Study of Economics As If People Mattered
by E. F. Schumacher · first published 1905
54% recommend46% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Humane critique of growth-first economics, arguing for human-scale work, intermediate technology, and quality of life over GDP. Suits engineers, technologists, and readers wanting a counterweight to mainstream economics.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Small Is Beautiful: A Study of Economics As If People Mattered is a collection of essays published in 1973 by German-born British economist E. F. Schumacher. The title "Small Is Beautiful" came from a principle espoused by Schumacher’s teacher Leopold Kohr (1909–1994) advancing small, appropriate technologies, policies, and polities as a superior alternative to the mainstream ethos of "bigger is better". Overlapping environmental, social, and economic forces such as the 1973 energy crisis and popularisation of the concept of globalisation helped bring Schumacher’s Small Is Beautiful cri
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…advanced, even if they are technologically backwards, and could teach the Americans how to actually achieve quality of life without technology). [And if you are going to step in, please read Schumacher's "Small is Beautiful", and pay attention to his arguments for intermediate technology (i.e., you don't dump differential equations on someone still learning algebra).] If showing someone how to best locate the nearest cupcake…
on “The Problem With Silicon Valley Is Itself” ↗…start on Classical Liberalism, which is completely different than modern political liberalism. It's like having two features in an app with nearly the same name. Confusing as fuck. * E. F. Schumacher's Small Is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered - This book will shift your perspective, useful to avoid becoming an a mindless advocate for one school of thought or another. * Marx is a tough one as Capital is massive…
on “Ask HN: What are the must-read books about economics/finance?” ↗…animals, etc, go through. I often come to the conclusion that we should just let them be - their lives, much like ours, are short-lived, and they deserve their little piece happiness. All this reminds me of Small Is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered by Ernst F. Schumacher - a great read.
on “In Switzerland, it's now illegal to boil a live lobster” ↗…performances of life, actual stages, shops, hotels, ranks in organisations, these little worlds with rules and customs, how the rules are subverted, created, evolve.. full of fascinating stories. EF Schumacher Small is Beautiful - definitely about government, money, society. Economics as if people mattered. When I first read this, I thought the survival of the planet depended on people reading it. I found Mandeville's Fable…
on “Ask HN: What are some deep, mentality changing books?” ↗Engineering: Third year math phys and its accompanying book (McQuarrie). It blew my mind when I learned McQuarrie is a chemist. Engineering's role in society: Schumacher's "Small is beautiful" and "Guide for the perplexed" was the straw finally broke me free of the technocrat worldview. (Although Illich's argument that a car's average speed is 3mph made me question my love for cars)
on “Ask HN: Do you recall any book or course that made a topic finally click?” ↗Definitely a great book. If you're interested in human-scale development, you should definitely check out the writings of Leopold Kohr (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopold_Kohr). E.F. Schumacher (of "Small is Beautiful" fame) was one of his students and Kohr writes even closer to the bone. His books (my favorite: "The Overdeveloped Nations") are not only extremly insightful but actually fun to read.
on “Small Is Beautiful: Economics As If People Mattered” ↗…Information by Edward R. Tufte, Envisioning Information by Edward R. Tufte Visual Explanations: Images and Quantities, Evidence and Narrative by Edward R. Tufte Beautiful Evidence by Edward R. Tufte Small Is Beautiful by E. F. Schumache The Art of Color by Johannes Itten Were I to teach a course, that would be the list of text books required (so you would own them after). First and only assignment---read them. Final…
on “Required Reading for Product Designers” ↗Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy by Joseph Schumpeteer and Small is Beautiful by Schumacher are two classic, heterodox economic works. People outside the field rarely read them, which is a shame. Both have very high S/N ratios, and will make any reader more thoughtful about the…
on “Ask HN: Books with a high signal to noise ratio?” ↗The answer can be found in this excellent analysis of modern economics by E.F Schumacher from 1973: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_Is_Beautiful
on “Why do we work so hard?” ↗…"uneconomical", but directly interacting with the food you take in, act of cooking etc are valuable in qualitative way, which is hidden by economic reductionism. I think E. F. Schumacher nailed it in his "Small is beautiful" and other works on how this reductionist view of analyzing behaviors/practices in terms of their to economic utility alone is the demon behind various problems of modernity
on “India has a hole where its middle class should be” ↗…so it blew my mind. Susan Faludi, STIFFED - men, work, jobs, masculinity, 20th C Walter Lippmann, Public Opinion - media, war, propaganda, democracy Noam Chomsky's political books E.F. Schumacher, Small is Beautiful - the world, development, government, planning, organization, humanity, sustainability J.R. Saul, Voltaire's Bastards - power, history, democracy, technocracy, reason, rationality, history from late…
on “Ask HN: What are your favorite non-fiction books of all time?” ↗…not take a holistic view, which should include sustainability of resources, quality of life (not just economic standard of living) and sustainability of the planet. I had read E. F. Schumacher's book "Small is Beautiful" when a teenager, when I was more into these sorts of things (did organic vegetable gardening and dairy farming, used a biogas plant, etc.), before I got into the software field full-time. I still recommend…
on “Can We Grow More Food on Less Land?” ↗"Small Is Beautiful: A Study of Economics As If People Mattered" by E.F. Schumacher. Completely changed my mind on economics, how it relates to people, and what fulfilling work is. I can't recommend it enough.
on “Ask HN: What books changed the way you think about almost everything?” ↗…energy to decipher (even in French) and make your own what he's saying. I'd rather recommend reading basics stuff like Guy Debord (Society of Spectacle), André Gorz (Métamorphoses du travail), Schumacher (Small is Beautiful), Kohr (The Breakdown of Nations). A little bit of Bourdieu cannot hurt either
on “Ivan Illich: A Forgotten Prophet Whose Time Has Come (2021)” ↗…understanding of cars. The irony is that he was a far left hippie who flirted with getting defrocked and I am supposed to be a "far right" conservative (whatever that means). Have you read E.F. Schumacher? "Small is beautiful" is right your alley.
on “The lithium-ion battery may not be the best bet for EVs” ↗