Publications
Prosperity without Growth? - Summary
| Date: | 26/03/2009 |
|---|---|
| Classification: | Economics |
| Document type: | SDC Reports & Papers |
| Rating: |  (5 reviews) |
| Download: |  pwg_summary_eng.pdf - 155 KB |
| Summary: | Summary of the Prosperity without Growth report. |
Your comments
 | Having only recently and by chance become aware of this report, I deplore the fact that it has not received the much wider and higher-profile publicity which it deserves. The basic proposition of the report is pure, basic common sense, and it is short-sighted, perverse, and futile to engage in arguments about the validity of specific details within it. Al Gore identified the First Inconvenient Truth, that mankind is causing irreversible and potentially catastrophic damage to the closed ecosystem on which our existence depends. This report identifies the Second Inconvenient Truth, that continuing economic growth is an unsustainable mirage and that technology (in its broadest sense), while potentially able to moderate environmental damage on a timescale of decades, is incapable in the longer term of overcoming fundamental laws of nature. The Third Inconvenient Truth, and the most essential of all, is that the long-term survival of mankind is dependent on a reduction in global population. Again, it is irrelevant at this stage to argue about the numbers, since long-term sustainability with fairly distributed prosperity requires a very much lower number than today. One billion would be a good working, long-term target. Political leaders have at last recognised the need for environmentally-driven policies which will be effective over decades, but political vision must now be extended to centuries and more, and global consensus must be established. Many generations will be required to achieve the conditions necessary for the long-term survival of mankind, and even the short-term measures to start the process will be radical by the normal standards of current political thinking. As an example, one essential short-term measure which can be achieved at national level is implementation of the principle that each generation must pay for itself. This requires the abolition of systems presently embedded in our economy, and operating on the "pyramid" principle employed by financial fraudsters, such as National Insurance and Public Sector pensions. There is a desperate need for individuals of global stature to follow Al Gore and proclaim the Inconvenient Truths which this report starts to address, and for political leaders to adopt a truly long-term vision and to take the consequences of it. If this does not happen, then future generations will be condemned to the indescribable human suffering of a Malthusian partial extinction, whether caused by global resource wars, pestilence, or just plain, simple starvation. |
| This report must be widely read and debated. Bravo to any political leader or group prepared to introduce policies for such fundamental change. The weakness of democracy is the inherent motivation to pursue short-term goals in order to be elected or remain in office. |
| There is surprisingly little on the role of money as debt and how interest as a reward to capital is driving the economic growth imperative. |
 | This work is a rather tentative step. We would prefer to see a much more defined action plan. There are already many opportunities to reinforce locally sustainable economies without debt growth. |
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