This book stands out amid the many works critical of mainstream economics for its author's reader-friendly intention to make accessible the problem of how underdevelopment in the South is linked to overdevelopment in the North, what to do about social injustice and poverty both domestically and between the industrialized and developing countries, and the global environmental destruction that is proceeding apace.

In addition to its many features deliberately aimed at helping college students, Professor Klaus Nurnberger has transcended the professional limitations of economics to present a holistic analysis of the human and environmental failings of our current market economy. He draws on recent thinking in a variety of disciplines. His arguments relate both to political economy and to people's worldviews. And he does not shrink from making clear the ethical considerations which must infuse both historical judgements as well as the policy choices for the future which he espouses.