ISSN 1076-9005
Volume 20, 2013
Buddhist Reflections on “Consumer” and “Consumerism”
Peter Harvey
University of Sunderland
This article starts with a characterization of “consumerism” and the idea of “the consumer.” It then explores Buddhist attitudes on wealth and “Buddhist economics” before drawing on these to develop a critical assessment of consumerism as an ineffective and wasteful route to human happiness.