Economic Policy Archives – Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy

Hacking the Business Growth Imperative

April 25, 2025/2 Comments/in Corporate Reform, Corruption, Economic Growth, Economic Policy, Governance, Money and Investments, Postgrowth, Steady State Economy, Steady State Herald, Sustainability /by Alix Underwood

by Kali Young

“Despite its immensity, the Earth’s resources are not infinite, and it’s clear we’ve exceeded its limits. But it’s also resilient. We can save our planet if we commit to it.” – Yvon Chouinard, founder of Patagonia

In 2022, Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard took a bold step to make the Earth, in essence, the company’s only shareholder. Chouinard explained that he doesn’t respect the stock market and believes that companies become irresponsible after going public.

Introducing the Sustainable Housing Act: Shelter for All in a Steady State

April 17, 2025/2 Comments/in Economic Policy, Governance, Inequality, Inflation, Limits to Growth, Materials use, Population, Steady State Economy, Steady State Herald, Sustainability /by Alix Underwood

by David Shreve

Housing in the United States (and in many other nations) is plagued by many problems and shortcomings. Among the most critical are increasingly unaffordable prices and bewildering geographic cost variations. Connected to these are additional problems associated with forced sprawl, the needless destruction of vital ecosystems, and labor market rigidity.

The residential cost problem is paramount and can no longer be dismissed as a predicament limited to isolated markets.

Introducing the Sustainable Taxes Act

March 20, 2025/5 Comments/in Economic Policy, Inequality, Money and Investments, Politics, Steady State Economy, Steady State Herald, Sustainability, Wealth /by Alix Underwood

by David Shreve

In a world where GDP exceeds our planet’s biocapacity, we badly need new economic policy. In particular, we need to halt the process of unsustainable growth and move toward a steady state economy. The critical question is how to do this while ensuring sufficient economic opportunities, employment, and income for all.

Technological changes are insufficient, despite holding some promise. Neither the agricultural “Green Revolution” nor energy use efficiencies have markedly changed the ongoing overshoot.

Introducing the Sustainable Budgets Act (Steady-State Style)

March 5, 2025/5 Comments/in Brian Czech, Democracy, Economic Policy, Governance, Money and Investments, Politics, Steady State Economy, Steady State Herald, Sustainability /by Alix Underwood

by Brian Czech

Let’s forget about the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and its questionably qualified quant for a moment. Regardless of their recklessness, getting to a sustainable budget is long overdue. Deficit spending adds to the public debt, a threat to the solvency of the United States. That’s why steady staters have long advocated for balanced budgets.

Furthermore, more spending requires a heavier ecological footprint.

The Costs of Compounding: Exploitation and Collapse

January 23, 2025/12 Comments/in Banking, Corporate Reform, Economic Growth, Economic Policy, Inequality, Limits to Growth, Money and Investments, Steady State Economy, Steady State Herald, Wealth /by Alix Underwood

by Koenraad Priels

The global financial system operates like a cancer, metastasizing throughout our economy and society. Its malignant core is a simple yet devastating formula: PL – PR + I, principal loaned – principal repaid + interest = an escalating debt trap that necessitates economic growth. This equation is familiar to anyone who has taken out a loan. It demonstrates the fatal flaw in our financial architecture,

Inflation through the Lens of the Trophic Theory of Money

November 21, 2024/3 Comments/in Economic Growth, Economic Policy, GDP, Inflation, Monetary Policy, Money and Investments, Steady State Economy, Steady State Herald, Trophic Theory of Money /by Alix Underwood

by Danish Hasan Ansari

In its simplest sense, inflation is an increase in the prices of goods and services. For instance, if the price of a certain good is $10 and in the next month the price increases to $12, the inflation on that item over one month is 20%. Many economists consider low levels of inflation sustained over time to be normal in a functioning economy. However,

The Economic Priority of the Seven Wealthiest Countries: More Wealth

November 14, 2024/5 Comments/in Alix Underwood, Consumption, Economic Growth, Economic Policy, GDP, Governance, Inequality, Politics, Steady State Economy, Steady State Herald, Wealth /by Alix Underwood

by Alix Underwood

Almost half of humanity lives below $6.85 per day. This population does not consume goods and services at a rate exceeding Earth’s capacity. Yet here we sit, on the wrong side of six of the nine planetary boundaries identified by the Stockholm Resilience Centre.

How did we get here? Via the economic activity of the other half of humanity. The planet, and all its inhabitants,

A Primer on Economic Growth and Biodiversity for COP16

October 17, 2024/11 Comments/in Biodiversity, Brian Czech, Conservation, Economic Growth, Economic Policy, Governance, Steady State Economy, Steady State Herald, Sustainability, Trophic Theory of Money /by Helene Langlamet

by Brian Czech

With the core meetings of the United Nations Biodiversity Conference (COP16) starting next week, it’s time for a primer on the relationship between economic growth and biodiversity conservation. The last thing we want is a COP16 devoid of discussion about the conflict between growing the economy and conserving biodiversity. In fact, the “800-pound gorilla”—GDP growth—ought to be front and center.

Devoted Herald readers may feel a tinge of déjà vu,

Whose Behavior Needs to Change? The Other Side of the International Development Coin

October 10, 2024/10 Comments/in Alix Underwood, Consumption, Economic Policy, Governance, Inequality, Limits to Growth, Postgrowth, Poverty, Steady State Herald, Sustainability, Wealth, Wellbeing /by Alix Underwood

by Alix Underwood

“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” The Western-led international development sector, born in the aftermath of World War II, has evolved according to this (ironically) Chinese proverb. To better reflect the status of international development, I would append the following sentences to the worn-out proverb: “Use advanced extractive technology to harvest all the fish from the man’s ocean,

A Steady Stater’s Response to the Harris-Trump Debate

September 12, 2024/15 Comments/in Brian Czech, Climate Change, Democracy, Economic Growth, Economic Policy, Governance, Limits to Growth, Politics, Steady State Economy, Steady State Herald /by Alix Underwood

by Brian Czech

“Harris wiped the floor with Trump.” At least that’s how today’s Washington Post kicked off a discussion among in-house columnists. But for voters who prioritize Planet Earth for present and future generations, the 2024 presidential election is a classic example of seeking the lesser of two evils. Neither Kamala Harris nor Donald Trump is a student—much less a champion—of sustainability. They probably think “limits to growth” pertains to poll results or crowd size.