This is a reprint in paperback of a book first published in 2004. That was a time when numerous studies attempting to unite demographic changes, economies and savings patterns appeared. Many were prepared by financial-market researchers who inevitably chose a model approach to demonstrate the macroeconomic effects of demographic change.

Richard Easterlin’s book rejects a statistically-based model approach but he adds dimensions to his analysis of economic growth that draw on areas and disciplines not normally encountered by the practising economist. Here is an economist who laments the way the profession has developed around model building.

In so doing he throws into question the narrowness of many of these approaches. His arguments that subjective testimonies can enhance economic analysis are persuasive. Consideration of deliberate family-size limitation and desired family size do not find their way into conventional economic modelling but are very much part of the culture of many developing economies. Equally he observes that in well-developed affluent societies there can be alternative preferences to yet more material goods and hence different versions of the ‘good life’.

Produced in the twilight years of a long and distinguished academic career, he draws together essays that provide alternative perspectives on aspirations and economic growth. His perspectives on mortality and fertility analysis help the reader to appreciate why a market approach does not always provide the best explanation of developments. His analysis of the mortality revolution brings a dimension to the analysis of industrial cycles that may seem obvious but it is explained and illustrated succinctly.

The chapters on demographic transition and economic history draw on the author’s considerable contribution to these areas and provide valuable insights. His analysis of ‘why isn’t the whole world developed’ draws on his presidential address to the Economic History Association in 1980. His answer is the lack of education and he explores how the development of education systems has a role in assessing economic growth.

His approach reignites the usefulness of Kuznets cycles in framing current developments not least because economic focus appears to be shifting to less-developed economies that prove more amenable to the Kuzsnets approach. Easterlin’s assessment of the development of education systems adds to the understanding of how different phases of the growth cycle occur.

Throughout his academic life Richard Easterlin has made the case for an interdisciplinary approach to understanding economic and demographic developments. His collection of essays provides a useful summary of his rationale for believing this. It is therefore disappointing to read that the institutions he has been most closely involved with, namely the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Southern California, are closing their interdisciplinary programmes combining economics, political science and international relations.