Piker Press — Weekly Journal of Arts and Literature
April 27, 2026

Economic Growth, at What Cost?

Hossein Hakim was born in Tehran, Iran. He came to the United States in 1976 for his graduate studies in electrical engineering and received a Ph.D. from Purdue University in 1982. He was a professor of electrical engineering for 38 years and retired in 2020.

Economic Growth, at What Cost?

What is wrong with our modern life?
What do we want in our lives?

Do we want less inflation, higher
interest rates, and faster GDP growth?

Do we want more money to buy more
happiness?

Why is everybody so busy these days, why
do we not have time for each other?

What happened to the time we had to smell roses?
What happened to the time we had to embrace and dance?
What happened to the time we had to look at the stars?

“Gallup” data indicates global happiness has declined
in the last ten years, “NY Times” reports depression
has increased among Generation Z, and some report
the rate of suicide in on increase among teenagers

And, I wonder where we will end up in a society where
success is defined with having more money. All the
research data indicates that is a fallacy.

Maybe we need to read the book "Blindness by Jose Saramago"
May be that will bring some sanity to our lives, and
Makes us ask ourselves: Economic Growth, at What Cost?







More by Hossein Hakim → More poetry → Full issue →
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Reader Comments
1 Reader Comment
Bahram javan
12/19/2023
01:40:19 PM
I wish more attention was paid to the lost happiness and our whole life was not measured and valued by income and profit, the poem was beautiful and full of meaning, thank you
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