In a community where public services have failed to keep abreast of private consumption things are very different. Here, in an atmosphere of private opulence and public squalor, the private goods have full sway.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Galbraith highlights the stark contrast between wealthy private lives and deteriorating public infrastructure. He suggests private affluence dominates when public services lag behind consumer demand.
- In plain terms
- Private wealth grows while public services fall behind, making private goods the main focus.
- What can you take from it?
- Public investment must keep pace with private consumption to avoid societal imbalance.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- How does private wealth affect public trust?
- Where should investment priorities lie?
Another view
This view may understate the role of private innovation in filling public gaps.
More from John Kenneth Galbraith
It is a far, far better thing to have a firm anchor in nonsense than to put out on the troubled seas of thought.
Permalink to quote #7 There is certainly no absolute standard of beauty. That precisely is what makes its pursuit so interesting.
Permalink to quote #9 Wealth is not without its advantages, and the case to the contrary, although it has often been made, has never proved widely persuasive.
Permalink to quote #6
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