Mainstream economics often assumes people have unlimited wants, but that has hardly been tested, and when people are asked, they say they don't want to live forever, be happy all the time or become billionaires. Wants are kept going by design. One pillar is shortening a product's life, so it breaks, goes out of fashion or can't be repaired and has to be replaced. Easy credit, constant advertising and frictionless online checkout make buying effortless. If wants are partly manufactured, then consuming less is a question of redesigning incentives and not just personal willpower.

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.