The Culture of Contentment

John Kenneth Galbraith (1908-2006) was one of the most influential economists of the twentieth century. He was professor of economics at Harvard University and served as U.S. ambassador to India during the Kennedy administration. He wrote more than fifty books, including American Capitalism, The Affluent Society, and The New Industrial State (Princeton).

Foreword ix

Jeff Madrick

A Word of Thanks xxv

1 The Culture of Contentment 1

2 The Social Character of Contentment: An Overview 11

3 The Functional Underclass 24

4 Taxation and the Public Services: The Perverse Effect 33

5 The License for Financial Devastation 40

6 The Bureaucratic Syndrome 51

7 The Economic Accommodation, I 61

8 The Economic Accommodation, II 74

9 The Foreign Policy of Contentment: The Recreational and the Real 85

10 The Military Nexus, I 95

11 The Military Nexus, II 103

12 The Politics of Contentment 112

13 The Reckoning, I 120

14 The Reckoning, II 129

15 Requiem 135

Index 143