Putting 'Good Society' Ahead of the Economy: Overcoming Neoliberalism's Growth Trap and its Costly Consequences.

With the rise of neoliberalism, a corporate-dominated state assisted deregulated growth strategy, which has caught most countries in the throes of what can be termed a 'growth trap', has indeed yielded significant economic gains for many, but at the same time has also entailed inexorable social, moral and environmental adversities. This paper argues that the reason we experience the incongruities between neoliberalism induced economic growth and social nourishing is because we give economy primacy over society, sometimes to its cost. Given the colossal social, environmental and moral damage that the pursuit of neoliberal economic growth has caused to society, it is important that we recalibrate our focus from the economy to society and ensure that neither growth nor 'development', but rather formation of what this paper terms 'good societies'-- entities that nurture and thrive on values of equity, empathy, social justice and environmental sustainability -- constitutes the end goal of all public actions. By drawing lessons from several philosophical and practical ideas, the paper offers several policy options relevant to implementation of the 'good society' concept both within and across nations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]