at least in 'developed' countries. From Special report: Nothing to fear from curbing growth (via EconoSpeak):
"The absurdity of our situation is illustrated by the way our economy profits from selling back to us the pleasures that we have lost through overwork: the leisure and tourist companies that sell us "quality time"; the catering services that provide "home cooking"; the dating and care agencies that see to personal relations; the gyms where people pay to walk on treadmills because the car culture has made it unsafe or unpleasant to walk outside. As the economy continues to expand, consumer culture becomes ever more reliant on our willingness to accept this."
This article from New Scientist has links to several articles on sustainable growth one of which is Why politicians dare not limit economic growth:
"If we do not go out shopping, then factories stop producing, and if factories stop producing then people get laid off. If people get laid off, then they do not have any money. And if they don't have any money they cannot go shopping. A falling economy has no money in the public purse and no way to service public debt. It struggles to maintain competitiveness and it puts people's jobs at risk. A government that fails to respond appropriately will soon find itself out of office.
This is the logic of free-market capitalism: the economy must grow continuously or face an unpalatable collapse. With the environmental situation reaching crisis point, however, it is time to stop pretending that mindlessly chasing economic growth is compatible with sustainability. We need something more robust than a comfort blanket to protect us from the damage we are wreaking on the planet. Figuring out an alternative to this doomed model is now a priority before a global recession, an unstable climate, or a combination of the two forces itself upon us."
All this may be afterGathering Storm which is drawing a lot of comments in Naked Capitalism.
See also Is a Currency Crisis Next? in Economist's View.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
'We thus have any interesting problem, economic growth is unsustainable for a variety of reasons, however it is inherent in a modern capitalist economy. Providing alternatives to capitalism is no easy task but it is necessary. I suspect that ultimately it is easier to change the economic system than basic ecological realities, however most commentators reverse my approach'
http://another-green-world.blogspot.com/2008/10/why-system-requires-economic-growth.html is my analysis that went towards the Sustainable Development Commission discussion on growth, that is in turn debated in New Scientist.
Thanks for the comment and link. I quickly browsed through the article. It looks very interesting and I will read it carefully again. The current crisis may be a good time to think of alternative strategies to or modifications of the current types of capitalism.
Post a Comment