Tough times ahead in 2012 may provide space to question the primacy of growth and consumerism

At the close of 2011, British Politics and Policy at LSE asked our contributors for their thoughts on the New Year 2012. In the first post in this series, Mary Evans finds that while, on the surface, there are few grounds for optimism for the coming year, there may be some chances to reconsider some of our most sacred ideas about growth and competition