Less money in 2012, but more valuable TIME.

There is such a hopeful article in yesterday's Observer by Heather Stewart on the ideas of an economist, Robert Skidelsky, under the heading "'Cut working week to 20 hours', urge economists".  This philosophy is being propagated by the New Economics Foundation which aims to change the situation in which some people have too much paid work and others too little.  We have used our increased wealth over recent decades to buy more stuff we don't need, to throw out perfectly good bathroom suites because they are the wrong colour, to over-invest in too-expensive housing.

It is obvious that a better use of that wealth would be to give us more time to enjoy our pastimes, preserve our physical and mental health, look after the environment, and, above all, spend more time with our children.  Since there are fewer jobs around, let's share them out and all enjoy a less frazzled way of life. For one thing, just as a start, more hours spent in the office to impress the bosses don't necessarily mean more productivity.  Even super-women and men don't keep up peak performance over 10 hours a day.

To those who could not contemplate such a change because of enormous mortgage payments the answer must be to rent out some of that space and at the same time help to reduce the agony of the housing shortage.

This way we could stop destroying our beautiful planet at such a speed and, what's more could offer to the BRIC countries an example of greater leisure rather than greater consumption as an aim for their growth-oriented economies. 

The great god Growth is a false one.  It destroys our well-being, doesn't nurture it.  Let us give maximum attention to the event being organised at the Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion at the London School of Economics on Wednesday when these ideas will be explored.