This book is old now, written in 2007, but the main points are true as ever.
1) We really need to push against the idea that money is the only measure of value. The cheapest way of doing things is (definitionally) the most efficient in terms of money, but it is catastrophically wasteful in terms of energy use, human wellbeing, and the state of our ecological systems.
2) Local economies are more sustainable, resilient, community-building, and satisfying. They are also (definitionally) particular to their place, which means that they are different from one another, which is just more interesting than one global menu that is the same everywhere you might go. ( )

This is a very important book that everyone should read. McKibben has many ideas for making this a better world. The chapter on eating locally led me to several other books. ( )

This is a book of journalism, not political or economic analysis. It does a great job of bringing the reader's attention to the links between the environmental and moral limits to endless capitalist growth, and the essentially social or psychological impulse to reconstruct society on a smaller, more personal scale. But as none of the factors McKibben suggests we need to balance are conveniently measurable in dollars (pretty much the only universal measurement left), he's left with examples, stories, anecdotes. If they echo your experience, you'll probably accept his larger thesis; if they don't, you'll probably complain about the book's lack of rigor, as though that makes its points moot.

I'm already on board with these ideas, so for me it was a quick read, giving me more examples and variations of the kind of thinking needed to sustain civilization globally and locally at something approximating its current standards. Where I live, this is the stuff of everyday life and casual conversations. Reading the book just filled in some of the background I'd missed.

Worth noting: I was surprised as I read by how little the book was affected by the experience of the economic crises and political changes of the last five years. In a revised edition I'm sure McKibben would point to them as examples to support his thesis, but it's actually nice that the book as-is allows the reader to supply the updates from his or her own experience. ( )

McKibbin's a great, earnest writer, and here he treads a narrow, winding path between ecological doom-and-gloom and societal hope; however, to maintain this tone, he doesn't put forth an excessively strong argument. It's great preaching to the choir, and maybe a good book for someone who's thought only peripherally about things like community and the locavore movement, etc. But it's not likely to win over any converts from the Other Side (whatever side that is). ( )

In Deep Economy, Bill McKibben triangulates a range of world problems of disparity of wealth and access among three common factors: capitalism/consumerism, the global economy, and global ecology. He argues that productions’ pursuit of efficiency has essentially crippled itself in the long term by being unsustainable. Furthermore, the requirement of extreme efficiency in order to be competitive in the global economy has widened the wealth disparity gap: large and successful corporations in developed nations have the capital, personnel, and image to continue to build their wealth and better their production; small businesses or developing nations have none of the above, and their chances of competing against more capable mega-corporations shrinks as the global economy gets ever larger.

We currently know the sum difference between bottom-line production costs and ability to maximize profit as the ultimate measure of efficiency – the highest good of capitalism. But measuring ‘goodness’ of a system by only these two simply quantifiable values disregards the more qualitative, delicate values affected by the system. Quality of life for workers, long-term sustainability, and overall impact on the environment. So here is Bill’s ecological and sustainable proposal:

“I’m not suggesting an abrupt break with the present, but a patient rebalancing of the scales. The project will not be fast, cheap, or easy. Fast, cheap, and easy is what we have at the moment; they are the cardinal virtues upon which our economy rests (and if they also happen to be the very adjectives you don’t want attached to your child, well, that should give you a little pause). The word we use to sum up these virtues is ‘efficiency,’ and on its altar we have sacrificed a good deal….But the time has come to throw some grit into the works. To make the economy less efficient, heretical as it sounds.”

It is heresy to American capitalism, no doubt. But as we become more aware of the interconnectedness and ultimate damage American capitalism has done so far both environmentally and economically, such heresy could be a prophetic and necessary voice. ( )