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Economic Progress, Social Disquiet: The Modern Paradox
Author(s) -
Eckersley Richard
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
australian journal of public administration
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.524
H-Index - 41
eISSN - 1467-8500
pISSN - 0313-6647
DOI - 10.1111/1467-8500.00227
Subject(s) - futures contract , government (linguistics) , public opinion , political science , political economy , economics , futures studies , public life , development economics , law , politics , computer science , financial economics , linguistics , philosophy , artificial intelligence
Surveys of social attitudes are revealing a perhaps unprecedented paradox: a booming economy but persistent community disquiet. The puzzling coincidence is fuelling interest in what is perhaps the ultimate public policy question: is life getting better ‐ or worse? The relationship between economic growth and human development is not as clear‐cut as conventional wisdom and government policy assume. Public opinion surveys suggest that the driving dynamic in Australia and other Western societies in the early decades of the new century will be a growing tension between values and lifestyles. How this tension is resolved will fundamentally determine national and global futures.