I’m still ploughing my way through Delete: The Power of Forgetting in the Digital Age by Mayer-Schonberger, but this little morsel has also caught my eye and may well end up in my Christmas stocking. Prosperity Without Growth: Economics for a Finite Planet by Tim Jackson seems like a good read. The argument, I think, is that if economic growth cannot be separated from environmental damage, then growth as an economic measure needs to be abandoned. It certainly sounds appealing. A life lived more locally and more simply is something I certainly aspire too. One problem though. It sounds like Jackson is a technological pessimist. Personally I’m a believer in the Smart Planet scenario. This is where science and technology solve most of our problems and we achieve economic prosperity without environmental degradation.