This paper explores the complex relationship between economic consumption and human welfare (or well-being). Conventional economics suggests that increasing levels of economic consumption lead to increasing levels of well-being. However, this view has been criticised on both environmental and social grounds. On the one hand, the material impacts of increasing consumption are environmentally unsustainable. On the other hand, material consumption can conflict with crucial social and psychological components of human welfare. This paper develops a perspective on human welfare which is based on Max-Neef's characterisation of human needs. It discusses the implications of this alternative perspective for the conventional viewpoint and illustrates the importance of it with reference to patterns of10 consumer expenditure in the UK over the last 40 years. The authors suggest that—from this perspective—modern societies may be seriously adrift in their pursuit of human well-being. However, they also point out that addressing this situation provides far more opportunity for ecologically-sustainable development than is generally recognised.
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