By Herman Daly
Historically, the U.S. is undeniably a country of immigrants. But why is this uncontested fact so repeatedly emphasized? Might the unremitting celebration of immigration as a policy (as opposed to the celebration of particular immigrants as people) obscure a dark side of our immigration history?
By Max Kummerow
Sir David Attenborough remarked in a 2011 presidential lecture to the Royal Society that “every environmental and social problem is made more difficult and ultimately impossible to solve with ever more people.” Wherever women’s status has improved and societies modernized, he said, birth rates have fallen. He begged his audience to “talk about population.”
By Herman Daly
The talking heads in the media explain the recent fall in the stock market as follows: A fall in unemployment leads to a tight labor market and the prospect of wage increases; wage increase leads to threat of inflation; which leads the Fed to likely raise interest rates; which would lead to less borrowing, and to less investment in stocks, and consequently to an expected fall in stock prices.
Policies needed to stabilize population and consumption will be difficult to enact, but difficult is a lot easier than impossible.
State of denial: it’s easier to pretend that unlimited economic growth can support an unlimited population, including immigrants.
A top priority of doing “everything we can to grow our economy” will worsen climate change, biodiversity loss, water shortages, and pollution.
Ecologists need to stop drinking the green Koolaid and tell it like it is regarding the conflict between economic growth and ecological health.
Occupiers need to unite around a macroeconomic goal — and the right goal is a steady state economy.
If we don’t start asking, “why?” real soon, our kids will one day be asking “How did we let this happen?”
Traducción al Español – Dave Gardner perspectivas sobre la economía se estancó.