Steady State Herald (CASSE Blog) – Page 12 of 54 – Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy

The NRA’s Kuznets Curve: Deadliest Mind Game on Earth?

June 9, 2022/5 Comments/in Brian Czech, Governance, Politics, Steady State Herald /by Brian Czech

by Brian Czech

Herald readers were reminded last week of a concept called the “Kuznets curve,” named after the late Simon Kuznets (1901-1985) for his analysis of the distribution of wealth. Kuznets (rhymes with “whose nets”) found, more or less, that the maldistribution of wealth had worsened in the decades preceding the 1920s, and lessened afterward. He famously linked both trends to economic growth, noting different effects of growth before and after the 20s.

Heart Troubles: The Link between Cardiovascular Disease and GDP Growth

June 2, 2022/2 Comments/in Consumption, Economic Growth, Environment, Population, Steady State Economy, Steady State Herald /by Brian Czech

by Taylor Lange

Heart disease is the leading cause of death and disability across the world. The Global Burden of Disease Study covers ten specific cardiovascular diseases and designates rarer ailments in an “other” category. The most prevalent and deadly diseases are ischemic heart disease, stroke, and hypertensive heart disease. In 2019, cardiovascular disease lead to the deaths of 18.6 million people globally.

Sell Your Stocks and Enjoy the Slide

May 26, 2022/10 Comments/in Banking, Brian Czech, Consumption, Degrowth, Economic Growth, Economic Policy, Energy, Environment, Food and Agriculture, Monetary Policy, Money and Investments, Poverty, Steady State Economy, Steady State Herald, Sustainability /by Brian Czech

by Brian Czech

I’m sorry if you’re one of the 145 million Americans invested in the stock market, but I actually find it gratifying to see the market sliding. Why shouldn’t I? As a steady stater, I’m firmly against GDP growth in the 21st century. A perpetually growing stock market presupposes a perpetually growing economy. If the market has to decline along with GDP, I’m all for it.

Steering Away from a Car-Centric Society

May 19, 2022/4 Comments/in Climate Change, Consumption, Economic Growth, Energy, Environment, Money and Investments, Politics, Poverty, Steady State Economy, Steady State Herald, Sustainability, Technology /by Brian Czech

by Mai Nguyen

Learning to drive scared me as a teenager. There was something terrifying about controlling a two-ton hunk of metal, and my drivers’ education teacher didn’t help by showing a graphic slideshow of injuries we could expect from a brutal car accident. This didn’t bother me much once I moved to the city; with buses, the metro, and bike or scooter shares, there are plenty of other ways to get around.

Morality in the Womb: More than Meets the Mass’s Eye

May 12, 2022/7 Comments/in Economic Policy, Environment, Governance, Politics, Population, Poverty, Religion, Steady State Economy, Steady State Herald, Sustainability /by Brian Czech

by Max Kummerow

With the recent leaking of the draft decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade, the heated controversy over a woman’s right to abort—or voluntarily terminate—a pregnancy is again at the forefront of democratic discourse. At the heart of this debate are issues of morality and theology. Self-identified Christians make up 63 percent of the U.S. population, with Evangelical Protestants and Catholics representing an overwhelming portion of the “pro-life” camp.

The Colorado River: Devoured by Growth

May 5, 2022/16 Comments/in Biodiversity, Climate Change, Consumption, Economic Growth, Energy, Environment, Food and Agriculture, Politics, Population, Steady State Economy, Steady State Herald, Sustainability /by Brian Czech

by Gary Wockner

“The nature of consumption is the consumption of Nature” – Jordan Perry

The natural environment of the American Southwest is sending out a loud call of distress, but few people in positions of power are listening. Economic and population growth are straining nature, especially across the Colorado River Basin, which encompasses parts of Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming, Arizona, Nevada, and California.

From 2010 to 2020,

Icebreakers in the Arctic: An Overlooked Environmental Concern

April 14, 2022/5 Comments/in Climate Change, Economic Growth, Economic Policy, Environment, Governance, Politics, Steady State Economy, Steady State Herald, Sustainability, Technology /by Brian Czech

by Johanna Cohn

Global heating has a greater impact on the Arctic than the rest of the planet. In fact, the Arctic is warming at a rate almost twice the global average. This is due to Arctic ice’s high albedo, meaning the ice reflects a tremendous amount of sunlight into the atmosphere. As the ice melts, the sea water absorbs more sunlight than it reflects. The resulting water subsequently warms and evaporates,

Game On or Game Over for the Environment?

March 31, 2022/5 Comments/in Biodiversity, Consumption, Economic Growth, Energy, Environment, Steady State Economy, Steady State Herald, Sustainability, Technology /by Brian Czech

by Mai Nguyen

In January 2022, Microsoft announced that the company planned to buy the videogame company Activision Blizzard for almost $70 billion, giving it control of franchises like Call of Duty, Candy Crush, and World of Warcraft. This signaled to the world the potential of gaming for the tech industry’s pursuit of speedier growth despite technology being an already high-demand industry.

Houston, We Have a Credit Problem

March 24, 2022/2 Comments/in Banking, Consumption, Degrowth, Economic Growth, Economic Policy, Monetary Policy, Money and Investments, Steady State Economy, Steady State Herald /by Brian Czech

by Neil Tracey

In 2021, China had around 30 million homes sitting vacant for extended periods. There’s enough unused housing in China to house around 80 million people, roughly the population of Germany. This isn’t “slack” in the market; there is little hope that these homes will someday find an occupant. These homes are bound to remain empty.

Indeed, most of these homes are simply held as financial assets;

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.