In 2008 the book “Frugality: Rebalancing Material and Spiritual Values in Economic Life” edited by Luk Bouckaert, Hendrik Opdebeeck, and Laszlo Zsolnai was published by Peter Lang Academic Publishers in Oxford.
The main messages of the book are the following:
(1) The present unsustainable lifestyle of humankind requires drastic changes. Western style consumer capitalism has resulted in global climate change, ecosystem degradation and biodiversity loss. Also, it has caused massive unhappiness and emptiness in rich countries and social disintegration worldwide.
(2) The interests of nature, society, and future generations require a considerable reduction of material throughput of the economy and a reorientation of our economic activities. This could become possible by employing a more spiritual approach to life and the economy.
(3) By rational choice we can develop a more frugal and sufficient way of life, but material temptations can always overwrite ecological, social, and ethical considerations. However, the spiritual case for frugality is strong enough. Spiritually based frugal practices may lead to rational outcomes such as reducing ecological destruction, social disintegration and the exploitation of future generations.
The book contains the following papers:
Luk Bouckaert (Catholic University of Leuven), Hendrik Opdebeeck (University of Antwerp), and Laszlo Zsolnai (Corvinus University of Budapest): Why Frugality?
Luk Bouckaert (Catholic University of Leuven): Rational versus Spiritual Concepts of Frugality
Rafael Esteban (Cambridge): Frugality and the Body
Francis Kadaplackal (Catholic University of Leuven): How the Idea ‘Created Co-Creator’ Can Contribute to the Nurturing of Frugality in Economic Life?
Laurie Michaelis (Oxford): Quaker Simplicity
Dirk Geldof (The Green Party, Antwerp): Overconsumption
Ronald Commers and Wim Vandekerckhove (Ghent University): Frugality and the Moral Economy of Late Modern Capitalism
Knut J. Ims (NHH Norwegian School of Economics, Bergen) and Ove D. Jakobsen (Bodo Graduate School of Business): Consumerism and Frugality—Contradictory Principles in Economics?
Hendrik Opdebeeck (University of Antwerp): The Urgency of a Frugality-based economics
Herman E. Daly (University of Maryland): Frugality First
Ronald Jeurissen (Nyenrode Business University) and Bert van de Ven (Tillburg University): Frugal Marketing: Can Selling Less Make Business Sense?
Robert Frank (Cornell University): The Progressive Consumption Tax
Laszlo Zsolnai (Corvinus University of Budapest): Buddhist Economic Strategy
https://www.peterlang.com/abstract/title/10217?rskey=AP3jcb&result=1