Growth, Degrowth, or Steady State
Economists and politicians chase ‘economic growth’, which is often referred to as ‘the holy grail’ of conventional economics. Like the holy grail, it is mythical; unlike the holy grail is will not bring us eternal life but rather make life on this planet impossible or intolerable.
In his book The Growth Illusion, Richard Douthwaite reveals the almost religious awe in which this holy of holies of capitalist economics is held. Its conceptual power is so all-encompassing that an economist would have to call a decline in economic activity, such as that seen since the financial crisis of 2007/8, an example of ‘negative growth’ rather than shrinkage or recession.
Fortunately, we are not all wedded to the capitalist growth model and part of the task of a green economist is to revision key aspects of life—consumer behaviour, money, employment and population—in a no-growth world. What we are seeking is a managed descent or what Howard Odum referred to as ‘a prosperous way down’.
Abandoning the true faith of capitalist economics is a good step.
Another would be to find a cheerful phrase to sum up where we are going.
Balance
Beyond Growth
Towards Dynamic Equilibrium
The phrase ‘steady state economy’ (coined by Herman Daly) is ambiguous in terms of economic theory, as well as implying a state of stagnation that is neither appealing nor compatible with nature’s way of creative evolution. Daly’s teacher Nicolae Georgescu-Roegen used the word ‘degrowth’, whose French variant, ‘decroissance’, has spawned a whole political movement. In spite of these elegant associations, in English it is ugly and has unhelpful implications of a return to the horse and cart.
Andrew Simms has suggested we use the phrase ‘dynamic equilibrium’ for the central principle of the new economic paradigm, a suggestion that was met with warm murmers of approval.
As we co-create the new paradigm we are learning that less really can be more. This is especially important to remember at a time when so many voices as calling for a return to growth as the answer to recession. Instead, our priority should be to find ways of living within our means ecologically, rather than fiscally, and ways that do not involve injustice or exploitation of people or the planet.
Our choice is about values, not just numbers.
So next time you hear somebody saying how important it is that we return rapidly to the growth path so that we can ‘grow our way of the recession’ you could try proposing to them instead that they imagine a world where we flourish within limits while living in a dynamic equilibrium with our planet.