Read LEOPOLD LETTER Vol 19 No.2 Summer 07 ISU - Bill McKibben - Deep
Economy - "How long will we continue to fiddle while Rome Burns?"
"Our prevailing economic mythology prompts us to believe that /growth
forever /is the only avenue to economic health and well being. .... such
paradigms are based on "preanalytic vision" that is an intellectual
construct, not an eternal truth. Therefore we can - and often - need to
- change it! ... our global ecosystem is limited ... continued growth is
untenable.
Bill Witt wrote:
> The fallacies run deeper than "growth" as the end-all of "prosperity."
> The billions being spent on hurricane recovery will register as
> positives to our GDP. The millions Iowa farmers have spent on 900,000
> miles of drainage tile also show up as "growth." The cleanup and
> reconstruction costs downstream are factored in as "growth." Jack
> buys dynamite and blows up Joe's barn. The added profit to the
> dynamite company is "growth." The lumber yard's profit for lumber to
> rebuild the barn is "growth."
>
> For economic theorizing only slightly more sophisticated than this,
> Milton Friedman got a Nobel Prize.
>
>
> Bill Witt
>
>
> Quoting daryl andersen <[log in to unmask]>:
>
>> I agree with your comments. A really good read on this is The Last
>> Hours of Ancient Sunlight by Thom Hartmann. As he notes, The end of
>> oil will be a main factor in adjustment. The earth can sustainably
>> accommodate approx 1 billion people living somewhere between our
>> lifestyle and an indigenous lifestyle. Another great read is
>> Sustainable Operating Systems/ The Post Petrol Paradigm by Michael
>> Richards. If all else fails read Into The Wild by Jon Krakauer.
>> Daryl Andersen
>> On Sep 25, 2008, at 10:56 PM, Thomas Mathews wrote:
>>
>>> Cindy,
>>>
>>> You note that ". . . economic prosperity, as we currently define
>>> it, depends on growth."
>>>
>>> This summarizes the problem perfectly. Our mainstream economists
>>> define a healthy economy as being a growing economy. A recession is
>>> defined as a cessation of economic growth.
>>>
>>> Yet it occurs even to bright middle school students that on a
>>> finite planet endless growth is impossible. But being an "adult"
>>> means denying this obvious fact.
>>>
>>> In an underdeveloped country, economic growth is needed just to
>>> provide enough for everyone. But in over-developed regions like the
>>> US, growth serves mainly to provide more wealth for the already
>>> rich. And despite the events of the past two weeks, it is the rich
>>> who run the country, including its media, and who keep alive the
>>> myth that growth equals prosperity.
>>>
>>> We clearly need a new economics, one which defines prosperity as
>>> sufficiency, not growth.
>>>
>>> Richard Douthwaite has written a very good book whose title
>>> summarizes these issues. (The Growth Illusion: How economic growth
>>> has enriched the few, impoverished the many, and endangered the
>>> planet, New Society Publishers, 1992, 1999.)
>>>
>>> Tom
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Looking for simple solutions to your real-life financial
>>> challenges? Check out WalletPop for the latest news and
>>> information, tips and calculators.
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