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? 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