Real living standards do not necessarily depend upon growth - you can keep them level in the face of declining incomes by making more services public and free. All the same, I am sure it is hard for all 'western' people to accept national decline, a trait that should bode ill for the mental well-being of Americans in the near future.

One of the most interesting findings of 'The Spirit Level' is that inequality hits the wealthy and the poor alike. John Crace notes that the book points out that the health statistics for the top 20% across societies favour the more equal societies. Let's make that shorter: rich people are healthier in societies where the rich earn less.

From the reviews, 'The Spirit Level' indicates that inequality causes more violent crime, more teenage pregnancies, more mental anguish among all classes and lower health among all classes. Material possessions have a higher impact as status markers in more unequal societies. Class-consciousness and class resentment are higher, social cohesion is lower. And all of this is relevant at the margin, as John Crace writes