Title: More from Less Pdf The Surprising Story of How We Learned to Prosper Using Fewer Resources
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.
We now live in a world of sustainable growth 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.Core dematerialization thesis based on inappropriate data therefore conclusions likely incorrect. 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.Brilliant-Bold-Beautiful! McAfee harnesses not only the “four horsemen of the optimist,” but also irrefutable data, historical scrutiny, and economic theory to prove his counter-intuitive case. He clearly demonstrates that technology, capitalism, public awareness, and responsive governments have combined to profoundly influence the positive trajectory of the human condition and the state of nature. The evidence is compelling and the story surprisingly lyrical, with epigraphs from poetry, philosophy, and literature woven throughout. A remarkable achievement!
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