The affluent society / John Kenneth Galbraith.

"Updated and with a new introduction by the author"--Cover.

"A Mariner book."

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Affluent society -- Concept of the conventional wisdom -- Economics and the tradition of despair -- Uncertain reassurance -- American mood -- Marxian pall -- Inequality -- Economic security -- Paramount position of production -- Imperative of consumer demand -- Dependence effect -- Vested interest in output -- Bill collector cometh -- Inflation -- Monetary illusion -- Production and price stability -- Theory of social balance -- Transition -- Divorce of production from security -- Redress of balance -- Position of poverty -- Labor, leisure and the new class -- On security and survival.

Galbraith's classic on the "economic of abundance" is, in the words of the New York Times, "a compelling challenge to conventional thought." With customary clarity, eloquence, and humor, Galbraith cuts to the heart of what economic security means (and doesn't mean) in today's world and lays bare the hazards of individual and societal complacence about economic inequity. While "affluent society" and "conventional wisdom" (first used in the book) have entered the vernacular, the message of the book has not been so widely embraced--reason enough to rediscover The Affluent Society.