Small is beautiful : a study of economics as if people mattered / created b E.F. Schumacher

Part I The modern world; 1 - The problem of production, 2 - peace and permanence, 3 - The role of economics, 4 - Buddhist economics, 5 - A question of size, Part II Resources; 6 - The greatest resource - education, 7 - The proper use of land, 8 - Resources for industry, 9 - Nuclear energy - salvation or damnation, 10 - Technology with a human face, Part III The Third world; 11- Development, 12 - Social and economic problems calling for the development of intermediate technology, 13 - Two million villages, 14 - The problem of unemployment in India, 15 - A machine to foretell the future?, 16 - Towards a theory of large-scale organisation, 17 - Socialism, 18 - Ownership, 19 - New patterns of ownership.

Small is Beautiful looks at the economic structure of the Western world in a revolutionary way. For Dr Schumacher maintains that Man's current pursuit of profit and progress, which promotes giant organisations and increased specialisation, has in fact resulted in gross economic inefficiency, environmental pollution and inhumane working conditions. Dr Schumacher challenges the doctrine of economic, technological and scientific specialisation and proposes a system of Intermediate Technology, based on smaller working units, communal ownership, and regional workplaces utilising local labour and resources.With the emphasis on the person not the product, Small is Beautiful points the way to a world in which Capital serves Man instead of Man remaining a slave to Capital.