Consumption Archives – Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy

The New Food Pyramid: Packing the Plate for GDP

January 15, 2026/17 Comments/in Brian Czech, Consumption, Corruption, Economic Growth, Food and Agriculture, GDP, Governance, Politics, Steady State Herald, Trophic Theory of Money /by Alix Underwood

by Brian Czech

Say what you will—pro or con—about the nutritional merits of the Trump Administration’s new food pyramid, but the thing is a masterclass in political artistry. It systematically serves vested interests, a political party, and an ever-competing president. And, I’ll argue, it’s subtly designed for a surge in GDP.

On its face, it certainly is an artistic endeavor, designed to grab you from several angles. The first thing to catch your eye is its surprising disposition.

Why Is Simple Living So Complicated?

January 8, 2026/9 Comments/in Consumption, Corporate Reform, Economic Policy, Governance, Inflation, Jobs and Employment, Money and Investments, Steady State Economy, Steady State Herald, Wellbeing /by Alix Underwood

by Keith Akers

In industrially advanced countries, we have massively overshot the limits to economic growth. Climate change, peak oil, soil erosion, mass extinctions, and groundwater depletion are already biting into our well-being. Economic and social collapse seems to be the default.

We need “simple living”—the voluntary reduction of consumption—but on a massive scale. We need other things too, like social justice and cultural changes. But let’s focus on the economic logistics of simple living.

Christ Didn’t Shop for Christmas Presents, Much Less Jets or Even Pets

December 24, 2025/5 Comments/in Brian Czech, Consumption, Steady State Economy, Steady State Herald /by Brian Czech

Editor’s note: This annual essay originally appeared December 23, 2020 as “Christ Didn’t Shop…Much Less Jets or Guns.” The version herein is updated, and pets have replaced guns as one of the peeves.

by Brian Czech

With Christmas looming, folks are making tough decisions about last-minute Christmas presents. The public is rattled by inflation, credit card debt is through the roof, and gift-giving is a real strain for many.

Radical Post-Growth Gratitude

November 26, 2025/7 Comments/in Alix Underwood, Consumption, Economic Growth, Ideology, Inequality, Limits to Growth, Postgrowth, Steady State Herald, Wealth, Wellbeing /by Alix Underwood

by Alix Underwood

In our paradoxical society of excess and dissatisfaction, dedicating a day to gratitude is a powerful gesture.

There is abundant evidence of the importance of gratitude for well-being. A dearth of gratitude is a critical component of Western society’s epidemic of dissatisfaction and mental illness.

It’s no coincidence that this epidemic has been accompanied by economic growth beyond planetary boundaries.

Carbon Footprint Tramples Planetary Boundaries

November 6, 2025/2 Comments/in Amelia Jaycen, Climate Change, Consumption, Economic Growth, Energy, Fossil Fuels, Limits to Growth, Pollution, Steady State Economy, Steady State Herald /by Alix Underwood

by Amelia Jaycen

The carbon footprint of an individual, organization, or country is the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) that must be produced to accommodate their choices: the types of transportation, heating and cooling, and diet they adopt and the manufacture and disposal of products they use. As a component of the total impact on the environment, called ecological footprint, a carbon footprint can be expressed as the amount of land or biocapacity required to absorb CO2 emissions.

Hitting Freshwater Rock Bottom

October 23, 2025/10 Comments/in Alix Underwood, Climate Change, Consumption, Economic Growth, Food and Agriculture, GDP, Limits to Growth, Steady State Herald, Sustainability, Water /by Alix Underwood

by Alix Underwood and Marwa Ebrahem

Freshwater is arguably the single most essential resource for human life. Yet, its use seems more abstract than that of solid materials. Freshwater sources exist everywhere that humans do, but they are often hidden from view, buried underground or frozen in glaciers. It’s hard to fathom the scope and the impact of the 3.95 trillion cubic meters of freshwater the human economy extracted in 2021.

Growth of an Economy, Death of a River

October 2, 2025/2 Comments/in Amelia Jaycen, Climate Change, Consumption, Economic Growth, Environment, Governance, Limits to Growth, Steady State Herald, Sustainability, Water /by Alix Underwood

by Amelia Jaycen

The Colorado River has a simple math problem: More water is taken out than nature refills every year. The gap between the two is also widening. Every year, an increasing amount of water is taken out of the Colorado River, as demand for water increases across the arid American West. Meanwhile, every year less water is available in the river and its tributaries as climate change and other manmade stressors cause imbalances in natural systems.

Technocene Ground Zero: Counties Face Off with Data Centers

July 24, 2025/5 Comments/in Amelia Jaycen, Climate Change, Consumption, Energy, Fossil Fuels, Limits to Growth, Materials use, Steady State Herald, Technology, Water /by Alix Underwood

by Amelia Jaycen

In counties across the U.S.—rural and urban, democrat and republican—communities are living up close and personal with data centers. And the new neighbor is a real nightmare.

The number of data centers in the U.S., whether planned, under construction, or operating, is 3,897. This is by far the most anywhere in the world, and the number is increasing weekly.

We are hitting our heads on the ceiling of limits to growth.

Introducing the Natural Resources and Electricity Cap-and-Trade Act

July 10, 2025/7 Comments/in Consumption, David Shreve, Economic Policy, Energy, Fossil Fuels, Materials use, Pollution, Steady State Economy, Steady State Economy Act, Steady State Herald /by Alix Underwood

by David Shreve

In cap-and-trade systems, the government places a “cap,” or limit, typically on pollution or resource extraction. The amount of pollution or extraction is then divided into “allowances,” which are allocated to the polluting or extracting corporations. These corporations can trade their unused allowances in the marketplace.

Cap-and-trade policies promise significant abatement at an optimally low cost. But does experience with cap-and-trade systems vindicate this promise?

The United States and other countries have tested a variety of cap-and-trade systems.

Circularity in the Gold Sector

June 26, 2025/2 Comments/in Consumption, Corporate Reform, Economic Policy, Materials use, Steady State Economy, Steady State Herald, Sustainability, Technology /by Alix Underwood

by Ramachandran Kallankara and Vivek Vivek

Twenty years ago, visionary economist Herman Daly exhorted the readers of Scientific American to create new ways of thinking towards a sustainable economy:

“The global economy is now so large that society can no longer safely pretend it operates within a limitless ecosystem. Developing an economy that can be sustained within the finite biosphere requires new ways of thinking.”

Economies are triangular,