The Coming Good Boom

Economists like to say that there is no such thing as a "free lunch" whenever we move our social arrangements in a new direction. According to this kind of thinking, a price will inevitably be paid for addressing big, society-wide problems such as global warming. This book takes a contrary view--resolving the problem of global warming and moving to a more spatially compact form of human settlement will generate a durable and widespread prosperity and improvements in the quality of life. In short, fixing global warming will be a "free lunch." We will all end up being better off independently of any gains to the climate or the natural environment. The turn to clean energy will set off an unprecedented economic boom driven by innovation in energy conservation, production, and distribution and by a move toward high density urban living and the private and public construction that will go with it. Unlike the economic expansions of recent decades, growth induced by a shift to clean energy and compact living will truly lift all economic boats. Turning to compact green living and freeing ourselves from the environmental tyranny of fossil fuels will set off an investment boom of a new kind--a good boom that will help cure some of our most intractable social and environmental ills. This combination of ideas is the unique and original contribution of this book.