Aa: Afluent Society

The Affluent Society (1958) describe the United States after World War II. An affluent society, as the term was used ironically by Galbraith, is rich in private resources but poor in public ones because of a misplaced priority on increasing production in the private sector. In the book Galbraith contends that, because of technological advances and increased productivity, by the mid 20th century consumer goods and material comforts were available to Americans in near-overabundance. He suggested that the quality of life would improve if spending powere were shifted from the private sector to the public sector, in efforts to increase education facilities, and elimiate such problems as pollution and urban decay. The "quality of life" concept provoked considerable debate in government, in business, and among laymen, and the book's title became a catch phrase to describe Americans at the peak of prospriety.

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia® Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/
(Benets Readers Encyclopedia) ed. Katherine Baker Siepmann (New York Harper Collins Publishers, 1948), 13.