If it continues to grow at the same rate the economy will be 80 times that size by the year 2100. So explains Professor Tim Jackson, who is being joined around the world by a chorus of experts now arguing that we have to question economic growth. It seems so obvious to question growth. Indeed, as argued by economist Kenneth Boulding: “Anyone who believes exponential growth can go on forever in a finite world is either a madman or an economist.” Yet growth is the underlying driver behind all economic policy and a sacred tenet of global capitalism. The numbers referred to by Jackson and others clearly show we will inevitably see an end to economic growth at some point. While there is debate on the timing and the trigger, it is hard to argue that growth can continue forever. As we showed earlier, dramatically increasing efficiency or decoupling material growth from economic growth may at best buy us a bit of time. However, at some point we are going to have to face the reality that we live in a finite world.
What do You think about The Great Disruption (2011)?
