From the coauthor of the New York Times bestseller The Second Machine Age, a compelling argument—masterfully researched and brilliantly articulated—that we have at last learned how to increase human prosperity while treading more lightly on our planet.
Throughout history, the only way for humanity to grow was by degrading the Earth: chopping down forests, fouling the air and water, and endlessly digging out resources. Since the first Earth Day in 1970, the reigning argument has been that taking better care of the planet means radically changing course: reducing our consumption, tightening our belts, learning to share and reuse, restraining growth. Is that argument correct?
Absolutely not. In More from Less, McAfee argues that to solve our ecological problems we don’t need to make radical changes. Instead, we need to do more of what we’re already doing: growing technologically sophisticated market-based economies around the world.
How can he possibly make this claim? Because of the evidence. America—a large, high-tech country that accounts for about 25% of the global economy—is now generally using less of most resources year after year, even as its economy and population continue to grow. What’s more, the US is polluting the air and water less, emitting fewer greenhouse gases, and replenishing endangered animal populations. And, as McAfee shows, America is not alone. Other countries are also transforming themselves in fundamental ways.
What has made this turnabout possible? One thing, primarily: the collaboration between technology and capitalism, although good governance and public awareness have also been critical. McAfee does warn of issues that haven’t been solved, like global warming, overfishing, and communities left behind as capitalism and tech progress race forward. But overall, More from Less is a revelatory, paradigm-shifting account of how we’ve stumbled into an unexpectedly better balance with nature—one that holds out the promise of more abundant and greener centuries ahead.
More from Less: The Surprising Story of How We Learned to Prosper Using Fewer Resources―and What Happens Next Hardcover – October 8, 2019
by Andrew McAfee (Author)
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Editorial Reviews
Review
“Contrary to the doomsayers, humanity can grow the economy while healing the environment, according to this hopeful exploration of sustainable development…McAfee synthesizes a vast literature on economics and the environment into a lucid, robust defense of technological progress, including nuclear power and GMOs. This stimulating challenge to anti-capitalist alarmists is full of fascinating information and provocative insights.”
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“[McAfee] is convinced that, on balance, we’re heading the right way: ‘We need to step on the accelerator, not yank the steering wheel in a different direction.’ It is precisely his commitment to societal and planetary health that compels him to call on the generative power of tech and capitalism to elevate humanity, as he stands athwart progress and cries, ‘More!’”
—Wall Street Journal
“McAfee’s focus on corporate use of resources is refreshing. Too often, businesses are caricatured as rapacious predators of Earth’s bounty. In fact, since the dawn of capitalism, they have produced products that become lighter on the ground and on the wallet because profit-hungry bosses see advantage in thrift.”
—The Economist
“Deeply engaging and useful in understanding the roles of capitalism and technology in shaping humanity's future.”
—Booklist
“The future may not be so bleak after all….A cogent argument.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“Everyone knows we’re doomed by runaway overpopulation, pollution, or resource depletion, whichever comes first. Not only is this view paralyzing and fatalistic, but, as Andrew McAfee shows in this exhilarating book, it’s wrong…More from Less is fascinating, enjoyable to read, and tremendously empowering.”
—Steven Pinker, Johnstone Professor of Psychology, Harvard University, and author of Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress
“The shortest path to improving the world is to notice objectively what is already working, and do more of it. As for the things that are still going wrong, figure out the minimalist way to turn them around, and do that. McAfee’s More from Less is packed with practical news and advice that will disconcert ideologues of every stripe.”
—Stewart Brand, editor of the The Whole Earth Catalog
“In his new book More from Less McAfee applies his positive approach to the case of our planet, arguing that we have reached a critical tipping point where technology is allowing us to actually reduce our ecological footprint—a truly counterintuitive finding....[This book is] well worth reading even if your first impression, like mine, is: it can’t be true!”
—Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund
“In More from Less Andrew McAfee conclusively demonstrates how environmentalism requires more technology and capitalism, not less. Our modern technologies actually dematerialize our consumption, giving us higher human welfare with lower material inputs. This is an urgently needed and clear-eyed view of how to have our technological cake and eat it too.”
—Marc Andreessen, cofounder and general partner of Andreessen Horowitz
“I've always believed that technological progress and entrepreneurship make our lives better. Here, Andrew McAfee shows how these powerful forces are helping us make our planet better too, instead of degrading it. For anyone who wants to help create a future that is both sustainable and abundant, this book is essential reading.”
—Reid Hoffman, cofounder of Linkedin and coauthor of Blitzscaling
“This book is the best kind of surprise. It tells us something about our relationship with our planet that is both unexpected and hopeful. The evidence McAfee presents is convincing: we have at last learned how to tread more lightly on the Earth. More from Less shows how we accomplished this, and tells us how to keep it going.”
—Eric Schmidt, former CEO of Google
“In More from Less Andrew McAfee lays out a compelling blueprint showing how we can support human life using fewer natural resources, improve the state of the world, and replenish the planet for centuries to come.”
—Marc Benioff, Chairman and co-CEO of Salesforce
“More from Less is a must-read—timely and refreshing! Amid the din of voices insisting that the ravages of climate change are unstoppable, McAffee offers a desperately needed nuanced perspective on what governments and society have got right, and he compellingly argues that commendable progress has already been made….A gem.”
—Dambisa Moyo, New York Times bestselling author of Dead Aid, How the West Was Lost, Winner Take All, and Edge of Chaos
“Riveting…By subverting our common perceptions of capitalism and technology as enemies of progress and environmental preservation, McAfee offers all of us a clear-eyed source of optimism and hope. Critically, he also makes the case for what comes next—offering up vital lessons that have the potential to make the world both more prosperous and more just.”
—Darren Walker, President of the Ford Foundation
“Andrew McAfee’s new book addresses an urgent need in our world today: defining a framework for addressing big global challenges. His proposals are based on a thorough analysis of the state of the world, combined with a refreshing can-do attitude.”
—Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum
“Andrew McAfee’s optimistic and humane book documents a profoundly important and under-appreciated megatrend—the dematerialization of our economy….Anyone who worries about the future will have their fears allayed and hopes raised by reading this important book.”
—Lawrence H. Summers, former Secretary of the U.S. Treasury and Director of the National Economic Council
“Yet another magnificent contribution from Andrew McAfee. Along with his prior works, More from Less will help us navigate society’s future in profound ways.”
—Clayton M. Christensen, Kim B. Clark Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School
About the Author
Andrew McAfee is a principal research scientist at MIT Sloan School of Management and the cofounder and codirector of the MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy, where he studies how digital technologies are changing business, the economy, and society. He has discussed his work at such venues as TED, the Aspen Ideas Festival, and the World Economic Forum. His prior books include the New York Times bestseller The Second Machine Age and Machine, Platform, Crowd. He lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Product details
Publisher : Scribner (October 8, 2019)
Language : English
Hardcover : 352 pages
ISBN-10 : 1982103574
ISBN-13 : 978-1982103576
Item Weight : 1.15 pounds
Dimensions : 6 x 1 x 9 inches
Best Sellers Rank: #86,873 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
#46 in Sustainable Business Development
#87 in Free Enterprise & Capitalism
#121 in Sociology of Social Theory
Customer Reviews: 4.3 out of 5 stars 187 ratings
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Biography
Andrew McAfee (@amcafee), a principal research scientist at MIT, studies how digital technologies are changing the world. His new book "More from Less: The Surprising Story of How We Learned to Prosper Using Fewer Resources - and What Happens Next" will be published by Scribner in October of 2019. His prior book, written with Erik Brynjolfsson, is "Machine | Platform | Crowd: Harnessing our Digital Future." Their 2014 book "The Second Machine Age: Work, Progress, and Prosperity in a Time of Brilliant Technologies" was a New York Times bestseller and was shortlisted for the Financial Times / McKinsey business book of the year award.
McAfee has written for publications including Harvard Business Review, The Economist, The Wall St. Journal, the Financial Times, and The New York Times. He's talked about his work on The Charlie Rose Show and 60 Minutes, at TED, Davos, the Aspen Ideas Festival, and in front of many other audiences.
McAfee and Brynjolfsson are the only people named to both the Thinkers 50 list of the world’s top management thinkers and the Politico 50 group of people transforming American politics.
McAfee was educated at Harvard and MIT, where he is the co-founder of the Institute’s Initiative on the Digital Economy. He lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, watches too much Red Sox baseball, doesn't ride his motorcycle enough, and starts his weekends with the NYT Saturday crossword.
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global warming awareness and responsive public awareness tech progress responsive government industrial revolution andrew mcafee resource use using fewer population growth nuclear power per capita climate change matt ridley natural resources steven pinker fewer resources use of resources horsemen of the optimist technological progress
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H M
1.0 out of 5 stars Core dematerialization thesis based on inappropriate data therefore conclusions likely incorrect.
Reviewed in the United States on October 16, 2019
This book uses falling US consumption of raw materials, energy and reducing US CO2 production to argue that resource use is decreasing despite ongoing economic growth since 1970.
Most of the consumption data referenced does not account for the fact that a large portion of US manufacturing has moved offshore in that period. Much of the data for raw material consumption is from the U.S. Geological Survey- National Minerals Information Center. I emailed them asking whether their consumption data includes imported finished goods - eg. automobiles and washing macines for steel consumption. They replied that this consumption data definitely would not. Energy consumption and CO2 production only include US based figures, ignoring the huge energy consumption and CO2 production in China which has been offshored with manufacturing our goods.
The core thesis of this book is therefore not backed up by data. I'm sure the author knows this and I think it is intellectually dishonest not to reference this in the book, especially when it is being used as a primary source of techno-optimism by Steven Pinker, Christine Lagarde, Eric Schmidt and Larry Summers.
Christine Lagarde's comment after reading this was "it can’t be true!" - I'm pretty sure it isn't.
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J. M. Korhonen
1.0 out of 5 stars The main conclusion runs counter to a vast body of academic research on the topic
Reviewed in the United States on November 20, 2019
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This is a well-written book which could be a good book if its key message were supported by research. This, unfortunately, is not the case.
Decoupling is a topic that has been studied extensively, with one recent overview finding over 1200 peer-reviewed research papers published between 1990 and 2015. As a result, there exists a voluminous body of research that has used better methods and covers far more ground, both theoretically and empirically, than this book. The conclusions of this research stream are fairly clear, as a recent, comprehensive and well-worth-the-read overview of decoupling research (Parrique et al. 2019) shows: while some decoupling is beyond doubt happening, there is no sturdy evidence that could permit us to believe that _necessary_ decoupling is going on. If we wish to continue our present course and economic growth patterns, we would need to see decoupling that is 1) absolute, 2) deep enough, 3) fast enough, 4) permanent, and 5) global. This is not what research shows, even though there is evidence that some countries have been able to slightly decrease the use of some resources (albeit even this finding diminishes once we account for the increasing financialization of the economy, as Kovacic et al. 2017 find for the EU-14).
This book's central message is basically demolished by a single open access article in PNAS (Wiedmann et al. 2015), not to mention other relevant research. Using far more sophisticated methods, informed by past research on the topic, and covering the value chains and countries far more extensively than this book, the Widemann et al. concluded that if the total materials footprint of industrialized countries, USA included, has decoupled at all, the amount of absolute decoupling is insignificant. I cannot find any reference to this rather fundamental piece of research in the book, nor can I find any references to any recent studies that are more critical about decoupling claims. In fact, I cannot find solid evidence, either in references or in the text, that the author is even aware that such research exists. As such, I do not believe that the book's thesis could ever be published in a reputable peer reviewed journal: existing research has already covered this ground repeatedly, with better methods.
In a positive note, the author is very clear that market fundamentalism - letting capitalism run amok - is emphatically NOT an answer to the environmental crises, and that we need a strong state to regulate and control the private interests, repair market failures and price the externalities. There is ample evidence that of all socio-economic systems we have tried so far, this approach - sometimes known as the Nordic model - has the best track record of creating and somewhat equitably distributing wealth. That said, I've already noticed that many proponents of this book haven't noticed these caveats, and instead claim that McAfee suggests unbridled capitalism is "the" answer.
However, despite rather serious flaws in the key argument, I have no doubt that the book will become a bestseller. We humans are so desperate to believe that nothing needs to change.
Janne M. Korhonen
PhD, MSc
Turku School of Economics
REFERENCES CITED
Kovacic, Z., Spano, M., Lo Piano, S. and Sorman, A.H. (2017). Finance, energy and the decoupling: an empirical study. Journal of Evolutionary Economics, 1-26.
Parrique T., Barth J., Briens F., C. Kerschner, Kraus-Polk A., Kuokkanen A., Spangenberg J.H. (2019). Decoupling debunked: Evidence and arguments against green growth as a sole strategy for sustainability. European Environmental Bureau.
Wiedmann, T. O., Schandl, H., Lenzen, M., Moran, D., Suh, S., West, J., & Kanemoto, K. (2015). The material footprint of nations. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 112(20), 6271–6276.
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Brian LaRocca
4.0 out of 5 stars We now live in a world of sustainable growth
Reviewed in the United States on October 15, 2019
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Andrew McAfee has a good hook for this pop-econ book:
- From the years 1200-1800, Malthus was indeed correct: we consumed more, produced more children and then fought a zero-sum game for resources curtailing any income gains we may have seen.
- Industrialization comes around: we use fertilizer, steam locomotives, generators, engines and indoor plumbing to boost growth and the quality of our lives.
- Starting around 1800, it takes 125 years for us to get to 2bln people. It had taken 200k years for us to get to 1bln.
- GDP growth is highly correlated with the depletion/use of steel, fertilizer, and aluminum.
- This leads to Neo-Malthusianism best summarized by Nobel Prize winner George Wald's quote, "civilization will end within 15 or 30 years unless immediate action is taken against problems facing mankind."
Why has civilization not collapsed?
Americans are consuming fewer resources per capita and less in total of steel, copper, fertilizer, timber and paper. Since 2000, GDP growth became decoupled from the use of resources. Thank the "four horseman": tech progress, capitalism, public awareness, responsive government. McAfee gives some great examples of these forces at play:
- In 1992, farmers abandoned so much farmland they were using as much acreage as 25 years before
- An average soda can that used to weigh 85g now weighs 12.75g
- The smart phone has consolidated a lot of the stuff we need
- Fracking has produced low cost natural gas which is better for the environment than coal
- Per Matt Ridley, "A car today emits less pollution traveling at full speed than a parked car did from leaks in 1970."
Tech's role in this dematerialization is clear. The author mentions its ability to "slim, swap, optimize and evaporate" previous ways of doing things. Capitalism has increased life expectancy and education and reduced child mortality around the globe. In 2015, those living in extreme poverty had fallen by 60% in just 16 years.
Furthermore, government has at times been helpful. The Montreal Protocol in 1987 quickly curbed the environmental threat posed by releasing CFC's into the air.
However, reading this book can at times feel like the mere outgrowth of a cocktail party with Haidt, Pinker and Nordhaus. Its similar to a lot of their work and exposes a superficiality in some of his recommendations. We need more Golden Rice? My inner Nassim Taleb griped that regular rice with a multivitamin made more sense. True, maybe there is a consensus that glyphosate is safe but the inert adjuvants in Roundup seem problematic (ask Bayer). A vegan diet is great for the environment as long as you are not counting on the compact intake of nutrients eating animals gives you. McAfee's lack of depth in exploring these topics belies a "trust me, I am an academic" attitude that can at times be off-putting.
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Peter - Denmark
1.0 out of 5 stars I believe the conclusions are wrong!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 8, 2019
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A few comments on this book – positive and negative:
Positive:
I agree with the author that ending capitalism is not the solution to problems the world is facing, incl. pollution. Quite the opposite – it is the only way forward, get people out of poverty. I also believe in the overall thinking, that technology will help us reduce our footprint going forward as products become more efficient, combined with public awareness and political action. Capitalism works, and no other system has been shown to work. But it must be tamed.
Negative:
I believe the data analysis is simply wrong, or at least very prone to being wrong. The main crux of the book is the graphs on pages 79-89, showing US consumption of raw materials plotted against US GDP and Industrial Production. It shows a decoupling between consumption of materials and GDP and Industrial Production, starting in year 2000. This, the author claims, is the great new news, called dematerialization or “More from Less”.
However, on the first slide on page 79, he notes that the data excludes impact from Import/export of finished goods. Not raw materials but finished goods. He comments that Net import is only 4% of GDP in the US.
Here he makes a (potentially) devastating error – (potentially) invalidating his conclusion.
While Net imports is indeed around 4% of GDP, the gross numbers are Exports at approx. +13% and Imports at approx. -17%. So any mix difference in finished goods in Export and Import, can significantly change the conclusion. It so happens that US is a major Net importer of finished goods e.g. Machinery, electronic equipment and autos (finished goods, with materials not included above in the consumption data). Basically, a big part of US’ consumption of cars, washing machines, computers etc. are made in Mexico, China etc. They contain a lot of materials, not included in the graphs, upon which he builds his conclusion/thesis. So quite possibly, there is no de-coupling.
He further measures the 4% as a % of GDP, which includes a lot of services (not requiring materials) – so the impact is even higher in terms of potential for distorting the numbers. It should be measured up against US production of goods, not total GDP.
What is most surprising, to me, is the number of notable people/institutions who “endorses” his findings, incl. Steven Pinker, Christine Lagarde (Head of EU Central Bank – scary), WSJ, The Economist and several others. Even if Lagarde is quoted as saying “Truly counterintuitive” – she should probably follow her intuition.
The author would be well served to update the book with more thorough analysis on the data, and inspiration can be found in some of the references made in other reviews of the book, like, made by J. M. Korhonen (Nov. 20, 2019):
Wiedmann, T. O., Schandl, H., Lenzen, M., Moran, D., Suh, S., West, J., & Kanemoto, K. (2015). The material footprint of nations. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 112(20), 6271–6276.
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Jonathan R
5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating insights into how our world is changing
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 29, 2019
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For those interested in improving how we treat the planet and exploit it less, I suggest you read this book. It tells a counter-intuitive story of how forces such as capitalism and technology that previously may have propelled us the wrong direction (pollution, species extinction, habitat inhalation etc.) are now conspiring to help us ‘tread more lightly’ on the planet’s surface. The combination of these forces as well as public awareness and responsive government is leading to a dramatic dematerialisation in rich countries. America is post-peak in many of the principal materials used to power its economy and the lives of its citizens. Understanding how this came about and what it means for future policy is fascinating.
This book unwraps a lot of surprising positive insights (improvements in both the human condition and the state of nature) but Andy doesn’t shy away from the challenges. He embraces the difficulties facing us in areas such as climate change and social inclusion and provides intelligent analysis on effective ways we might begin to tackle them.
Our human intuition is brilliant but buggy (as McAfee described with Brynjolfsson in other books). Protecting our environment is too important a task to entrust to our intuition (no matter how well intentioned). That’s why it behoves us all to rigorously understand the facts and trends that are making the biggest impact. More From Less does that brilliantly.
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4.0 out of 5 stars A heady dose of optimism
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 22, 2020
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More From Less sets out the argument for a positive outlook on the future of our planet - thanks to the combined forces of capitalism, technology, responsive government and public awareness.
Walking us through the most significant milestones of our collective history, McAfee shows how mankind has made significant, odds-defying progress with dematerialisation - learning how to do more with less and tread more lightly on the planet.
Challenging long-held arguments against everything from GMO crops and nuclear power to markets, competition and work, McAfee builds his case effectively - drawing on a vast array of research material so exhaustive in detail that this book requires over 30 pages of notes.
A scholarly tome, More From Less is not a speedy or easy read. It carries all the weight of a well-considered study, but if you give it due time and effort, the pay-off of facing the future more assuredly makes the time invested worthwhile.
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Robert
5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting but...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 27, 2021
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I liked it, easy to read and gets it's message across.
The first half of the book was best, where history of our growth was discussed, very enlightening to me.
But then I found it got a bit 'leftie' and some of the hopes for the future were more or less fantasies (such as solar and wind).
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William J.
5.0 out of 5 stars Very interesting read
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 22, 2020
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Well written and researched, not sure why other reviewers are saying it doesn't account for exported consumption when it very clearly states sources that include that data. Some of the arguments of his tangents don't stack up so well, but the core premise of the book is cogent, well argued and interesting.
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