John Kenneth Galbraith

Name

Institution

Course

Date

Economics

Introduction

John Kenneth Galbraith was a renowned writer who is famous for his contribution as an economist. In his book titled "The Affluent society" (1958), he discusses how the United States should structure its economy after the effects of World War II. His book is aimed at enlightening America into employing effective methods which will be used to make its economy great in terms of enriching the public sector which is poor as compared to the private sector. He has a way of reasoning aimed at achieving his goal; he talks about conventional wisdom and strategies for arguing. The author says, "Neither man's curiosity nor his incoherent ego allows him to remain contentedly oblivious to anything that is so close to his life" (p. 6). Conventional wisdom is basically a set of ideas or beliefs that the whole society believes in or rather deems acceptable; it is essentially about acceptability.

The economy is characterized by various shortcomings here and there. This is attributed to some of the moods and behaviors that wealthy individuals portray. Wealthy people are poor thinkers in that they do not know what to do with what they have simply because they have more than they need. Given that their needs are satisfied, their ability to be creative and innovative is undermined. What is convenient has been disregarded and ignored. The main goal of any human being is to satisfy his or her needs and this is asserted by Galbraith when he says, "Human wants do not become less urgent as there is always a need to satisfy them," (p.124), "The more wants are satisfied the more wants are born," (p. 126). Galbraith's point on conventional wisdom is aimed at explaining such things in the economy therefore setting the purpose of his aim to begin the book with the said topics.

Economics does not follow a simple and consistent pattern. In contrast, it is often incoherent, unclear and intellectually frustrating. Nevertheless, there must be an explanation for economic behavior for instance consumer demand as stated, "Human wants cannot be satisfied fully; satiety is not a characteristic of consumer demands," (p.117). Hence, in order for one to have an understanding of their own economy and social life, then they must have the ability to relate events and ideas. These ideas are the ones that bring about the interpretation of the events. There is therefore a need for one not to be oblivious of the things that he or she does not know. There has to be the need or urge to know and to figure out occurrences. This is basically what conventional wisdom and strategic reasoning are aimed at explaining in terms of the way in which urges are developed and dealt with in regards to the economy.

Implementing ways that are focused on the betterment of the economy is characterized by arguments-strategic reasoning which helps to direct individuals into making the most appropriate decisions on the way forward. Interpretation of the social life is not easy as there is competition between what is right and what is termed as merely acceptable. Conventional wisdom is thus there to help individuals overcome such hitches in life. Galbraith is trying to make it known that conventional