Why there’s no sense in no growth

Spectator Business

February 2009

Some economists advocate smaller populations, simpler lifestyles and less choice as the only way to husband the planet’s scarce resources. But is that really how we want to the future to be?

The economic forecast is nothing but doom and gloom. Stores are slashing prices and jobs. Factories are scaling back production and grinding to a halt. Consumer and business sentiment is glum. US President-elect Barack Obama’s proposed $825 million stimulus package for the US economy involves tax cuts and a New Deal-style spending package which will build everything from roads to convention centre hotels to golf courses.

And some economists are frustrated. Way beyond the accusation that Obama’s proposed spending package is a call to roll out the pork barrel, some say the kind of spending he is proposing is fundamentally flawed. We don’t need to grow the economy to get ourselves out of the pits. Instead, they say, it’s time to do exactly the opposite – to change our paradigm to one which encourages ‘no growth’. They see the world as a place where abundance is inevitably being overtaken by scarcity, and they proclaim that the only way to live with it is to slow down.

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