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

Special Report: Introducing the Sustainable Monetary Policy Act

June 11, 2026/0 Comments/in Banking, Brian Czech, Economic Growth, GDP, Governance, Inflation, Jobs and Employment, Limits to Growth, Monetary Policy, Money and Investments, Steady State Economy, Steady State Economy Act, Steady State Herald /by Alix Underwood

by Brian Czech

The Federal Reserve System has more influence over the rate of economic growth—certainly nationally and arguably globally—than any other institution. When it sets the federal funds rate, the Fed affects the decisions of producers and consumers far and wide. When it lowers the rate, producers borrow more, from Midwest farmers to Silicon Valley techs. Likewise, consumers borrow more for everything from cars and houses to laptops and smartphones.

Chemical Safety Sacrificed on the Road to GDP

June 4, 2026/0 Comments/in Corruption, Economic Growth, Food and Agriculture, GDP, Kirsten Stade, Limits to Growth, Politics, Pollution, Steady State Economy, Steady State Herald /by Alix Underwood

by Kirsten Stade

Trump’s second-term regulatory rollbacks have already undone decades of progress in protecting public health and the environment. Not surprisingly, the safety of agricultural chemicals is among the casualties of this deregulatory fervor.

The president’s single-minded pursuit of GDP growth has meant ordering the production of more herbicides. It has meant intervening to protect their manufacturers from lawsuits, when those downwind get cancer or lose their crops. It has meant stacking his administration with former chemical industry lobbyists.

Spring: Ever More Silent

May 14, 2026/4 Comments/in Alix Underwood, Consumption, Corruption, Economic Growth, Food and Agriculture, GDP, Pollution, Population, Steady State Herald, Water /by Alix Underwood

by Alix Underwood and Marwa Ebrahem

Humans have come to rely on chemicals not only to increase the fruits of our agricultural labor but also to stop other species from partaking in the feast. And the toll exacted by these “pest”-killing chemicals is immense.

Over 60 years ago, in Silent Spring, Rachel Carson detailed the effects of DDT, the first widely used chemical pesticide, on ecosystems and human health.

The Strait of Hormuz: Trump’s Waterloo?

March 19, 2026/6 Comments/in Brian Czech, Consumption, Economic Growth, Food and Agriculture, Fossil Fuels, GDP, Inflation, Peace, Steady State Economy, Steady State Herald, Trophic Theory of Money /by Alix Underwood

by Brian Czech

Given his long-running obsession with GDP growth, an obsession punctuated with mid-terms in mind, President Trump has made some peculiar moves. Just this week, his stripping of immigrant truckers’ licenses took effect, as part of a broader crackdown on immigrant labor, a key source of economic growth. His hyperactive imposing of tariffs has undermined comparative advantage, a condition relied upon for global GDP growth.

The Vicious Fertilizer Cycle and the Growth Economy

March 12, 2026/9 Comments/in Alix Underwood, Consumption, Economic Growth, Food and Agriculture, Fossil Fuels, GDP, Pollution, Population, Steady State Herald, Trophic Theory of Money, Water /by Alix Underwood

by Alix Underwood and Marwa Ebrahem

The size of our economy, measured by gross domestic product (GDP), is intimately linked to our use of artificial fertilizer. So is the ecological havoc we are wreaking on the planet and its inhabitants.

Between 2002 and 2018, while the population increased by 22 percent, the per-hectare use of synthetic nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium fertilizers—the three most common types—increased by about 23,

On Public Lands, a Feeding Frenzy for Growth

February 5, 2026/5 Comments/in Conservation, Corruption, Economic Growth, Endangered Species, Energy, Fossil Fuels, GDP, Kirsten Stade, Limits to Growth, Politics, Steady State Herald, Water /by Alix Underwood

by Kirsten Stade

American public lands management has always embodied a tense balancing act between conservation and exploitation. Too often the balance has tipped in an unsustainable direction. But the Trump Administration appears determined to break the scale, with unprecedented efforts to sell out public lands to extractive industries.

Four agencies manage most federal lands. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), and the National Park Service (NPS) within the Department of the Interior,

The New Food Pyramid: Packing the Plate for GDP

January 15, 2026/20 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.

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.

Has the Hunger-GDP Relationship Crossed a Threshold?

September 25, 2025/8 Comments/in Alix Underwood, Climate Change, Degrowth, Economic Growth, Food and Agriculture, GDP, Inequality, Limits to Growth, Poverty, Steady State Herald, Trophic Theory of Money, Wellbeing /by Alix Underwood

by Alix Underwood

The world looked poised to end hunger in the mid-2010s, after decades of decline in the percentage of the population that is undernourished. People often attribute progress in the late 20th century to the technological advances of the “Green Revolution.” However, the revolution’s costs and benefits, and their distribution, are hotly contested. Many experts instead point simply to economic growth as the primary factor responsible for poverty reduction and,

Unlearning Growth: Reclaiming Higher Education for Sustainability

February 6, 2025/1 Comment/in Corporate Reform, Economic Growth, GDP, Governance, Jobs and Employment, Limits to Growth, Postgrowth, Steady State Economy, Steady State Herald, Sustainability /by Alix Underwood

by Zachary Czuprynski

At the bottom of McGill University’s coat of arms, beneath the red shield, a scroll reads Grandescunt Aucta Labore— “By work, all things increase and grow.” Historically, mottos of higher education institutions (HEIs) symbolize the cultivation of virtues and moral excellence, often rooted in religion. Over time, however, this idea of growth in personal and moral development became tainted by the paradigm of economic growth.

Today,