Jobs and Employment Archives – Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy

Introducing a Different Type of 32-Hour Workweek Act

July 18, 2024/0 Comments/in Daniel Wortel-London, Economic Policy, Jobs and Employment, Steady State Economy, Steady State Herald /by Gary Gardner

by Daniel Wortel-London

Working long hours? You aren’t alone. Forty-one percent of U.S. workers reported working more than 45 hours a week in 2021. Sixteen percent said they spent more than 60 hours per week at work. Working long hours has been shown to degrade quality of life and productivity. But there’s a bigger problem with full-time employment: It isn’t environmentally sustainable.

Additional economic growth is the only way to generate full-time employment.

Slow is Beautiful: The Need to Decelerate

November 10, 2022/9 Comments/in Brian Czech, Degrowth, Jobs and Employment, Postgrowth, Steady State Economy, Steady State Herald, Sustainability, Technology /by Brian Czech

by Greg Mikkelson

Brian Czech once likened modern economic growth to a runaway train. This metaphor drives home the point that to save nature and humanity from an ecological train wreck, the most important thing is to decelerate the global economy. Unfortunately, much writing on environmental protection neglects this imperative and fixates instead on what we must accelerate.

For example, the must-read Living Planet Report,

How Steady-State Principles Transcend Economics

July 7, 2022/8 Comments/in Corporate Reform, Economic Growth, Jobs and Employment, Steady State Economy, Steady State Herald, Sustainability /by Brian Czech

by Sydney Lyman

Being a 21-year-old college student, I eagerly awaited the arrival of Harry Styles’ third album for several months. When Harry’s House finally dropped on May 20, I wasn’t disappointed. The modern pop album was brimming with soft summer vibes and the dreamy influence of Fleetwood Mac. What’s not to love?

Well, The Washington Post’s Allison Stewart found many things she didn’t love,

A Perfect Storm for Inflation: COVID, Loose Money, and Putin

March 10, 2022/6 Comments/in Brian Czech, Consumption, Economic Growth, Economic Policy, Energy, Food and Agriculture, Governance, Inflation, Jobs and Employment, Monetary Policy, Politics, Population, Poverty, Steady State Economy, Steady State Herald, Technology /by Brian Czech

by Brian Czech

The current bout of inflation should be no surprise to steady staters. We have national and global ecosystems pushed to the limits by population and economic growth. At the same time, we have monetary authorities and heads of state—neoclassically oblivious to limits—eager to stimulate the economy with loose money. It’s a recipe for inflation.

We tweeted all the way back in March 2020 that inflation was coming.

True Conservation: A 21st Century Vision for the Next Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

January 13, 2022/5 Comments/in Animal Welfare, Biodiversity, Brian Czech, Climate Change, Economic Growth, Economic Policy, Endangered Species, Energy, Environment, Governance, Jobs and Employment, Politics, Steady State Economy, Steady State Herald, Sustainability /by Brian Czech

by Brian Czech

The 21st century challenges to wildlife conservation are unprecedented. The ecological integrity of the nation and planet is unravelling before our eyes. Species and ecosystems are disappearing, if not immediately off the face of the planet, then via slow, dead-end emigrations as they respond to climate change.

It’s not as if climate change was needed to imperil fish and wildlife. Climate change is actually the fourth major crisis in the past 150 years.

A Place for a Steady State in the EU Green Deal

January 6, 2022/2 Comments/in Biodiversity, Climate Change, Consumption, Degrowth, Economic Growth, Economic Policy, Energy, Environment, Governance, Jobs and Employment, Politics, Population, Steady State Economy, Steady State Herald, Sustainability /by Brian Czech

by Adel Ramdani

The European Green Deal, the EU’s flagship environmental program, aims to profoundly transform the EU’s 27 member states into low-carbon economies. The deal was rolled out in December 2019 by Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission. It’s supposed to be a roadmap toward a “fair and prosperous society” with an economy that is modern, resource-efficient, and competitive. So far, so good? Let’s take a deeper dive.

Resisting the Temptation of Growth at the County Level

November 19, 2021/1 Comment/in Economic Growth, Economic Policy, Environment, Food and Agriculture, Governance, Jobs and Employment, Monetary Policy, Politics, Population, Steady State Economy, Steady State Herald, Sustainability /by Brian Czech

by Daniel Giles

Across the USA, a battle for the souls of rural counties is being waged. The battle is fought not in major news outlets, but in local government meetings and the opinion columns of local newspapers. Despite the lack of national coverage, the cumulative outcome of these localized conflicts will change the American landscape for generations to come.

This monumental battle is between those fighting for growth—or “development” as some use interchangeably—and those who strive to conserve the current character of counties.

Labor Day Reflections: Growth Doesn’t Solve Inequality

September 10, 2021/6 Comments/in Consumption, Economic Growth, Economic Policy, Governance, Jobs and Employment, Monetary Policy, Politics, Steady State Economy, Steady State Herald /by Brian Czech

by Taylor Lange

Labor Day, like other holidays of remembrance, is an opportunity to reflect on the past and critically consider the future. Our memory ought to include the foot soldiers of the labor movement, from the 10,000 coal miners who fought in the Battle of Blair Mountain to the steel workers who duked it out with the Pinkertons at Homestead mill. We owe our rights as workers to the bitter struggles of many who preceded us.

Is the Steady State Progressive?

February 18, 2021/6 Comments/in Consumption, Degrowth, Economic Growth, Jobs and Employment, Religion, Steady State Economy, Steady State Herald, Sustainability /by Brian Czech

by Brian Snyder

Karl Marx thought of history as progressive, moving from aristocracy to bourgeois capitalism to socialist revolution to communist utopia. While neoclassical economists such as Alan Greenspan and Paul Romer might not agree with Marx on much, they do agree that history tends toward progress. Today, nearly everyone on the political left and much of the political right is “historically progressive,” even if politically conservative. They all seem to believe that our children will inherit a more prosperous,

Christ Didn’t Shop for Christmas Presents (Much Less Jets and Guns)

December 23, 2020/7 Comments/in Brian Czech, Consumption, Economic Policy, Jobs and Employment, Religion, Steady State Herald /by Brian Czech

by Brian Czech

With Christmas two days out, folks are making tough decisions about Christmas presents. Unemployment rates in 2020 have reached their highest rates since the Great Depression, and gift-giving is a real strain for many. My advice for anyone stressing out over Christmas presents is: Don’t be too hard on yourselves. It’s not like you need an excuse to temper the shopping, but if an excuse was needed, the COVID-caused recession would be it!