GDP Archives – Page 4 of 13 – Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy

Wildlife on the Way Out While the World Wildlife Fund Lays a Policy Egg

September 11, 2020/10 Comments/in Animal Welfare, Biodiversity, Brian Czech, Economic Growth, Endangered Species, Environment, Steady State Economy, Steady State Herald, Sustainability /by Brian Czech

by Brian Czech

It’s been awhile since wildlife—not just a species here or there but wildlife at large—has been front and center in the news. Usually the biggest environmental news pertains to climate change at the global level, or local pollution problems such as lead in the water pipes. “Biodiversity” gained traction as an issue in the 1990s, but seems to have slipped off the public’s radar. (When’s the last time you saw it in a prominent newspaper headline?)

“Wildlife,” on the other hand,

“Consumer Confidence” or Subtle Salesmanship?

August 27, 2020/9 Comments/in Brian Czech, Consumption, Economic Growth, Economic Policy, Environment, Steady State Economy, Steady State Herald, Sustainability /by Brian Czech

by Brian Czech

Have you ever wondered about the odd pairing of “confidence” with “consumer?” Isn’t confidence supposed to reflect something more virtuous than your shopping cart? When you’re confident, you’ll be comfortable in your own skin, right? It’s all about who you are, not what your stuff is.

Confidence is supposed to play out in places like football fields, gymnastic events, stages, and maybe weddings, not shopping malls and dealerships.

The Silver Lining of the COVID-Caused Recession is Fading Fast

August 20, 2020/5 Comments/in Climate Change, Consumption, Economic Growth, Economic Policy, Energy, Environment, Steady State Economy, Steady State Herald, Sustainability /by Brian Czech

by Madeline Baker

From February to mid-April 2020, in an early and shocking stage of the COVID-19 pandemic, greenhouse gas emissions plummeted worldwide. Nowhere was the reduction more notable than in China, the country with the highest emissions. According to Lauri Myllyvirta, the lead analyst at the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, China’s carbon dioxide emissions fell by 25 percent from the end of January through mid-February. Also,

Joe Biden, Donald “Duck,” and a Steady-State Soul of America

August 5, 2020/10 Comments/in Brian Czech, Economic Growth, Economic Policy, Environment, Politics, Steady State Economy, Steady State Herald /by Brian Czech

by Brian Czech

Joe Biden wants to restore the “soul of America.” It’s a noble goal befitting an elderly statesman combining Uncle Joe charm with Uncle Sam chops. And, it’s badly needed after four years of soulless, sickening corruption of the White House. It’s also a huge opportunity, not only for restoring but for reforming that soul.

Reform is needed because the soul of America was hardly spotless to begin with,

The Kid and the Modern American Growth Scam

July 23, 2020/3 Comments/in Consumption, Corruption, Economic Growth, Economic Policy, Environment, Steady State Herald /by Brian Czech

By Mark Cramer

Modified from the original published in Welcome to Fakeville! (medium.com/@WTFakeville) on May 14, 2020.

In Charles Chaplin’s classic film, The Kid, the Kid runs around town throwing rocks into windows, setting the stage for his dad, the Tramp, to show up (by chance) with window-repair equipment. The family business is based on destruction.

Between the lines, this film introduces the God of the modern era: economic growth,

Don’t Call It “Communist”

July 15, 2020/13 Comments/in Economic Growth, Economic Policy, Politics, Steady State Economy, Steady State Herald, Sustainability /by Brian Czech

by Brian Snyder

One of the few benefits of a global quarantine is catching up on movies, and one of the movies I’ve recently caught up on is 2017’s The Death of Stalin. If you have an aversion to vulgar language or death squads you should skip it, but otherwise, watching Steve Buscemi play Nikita Khrushchev is a comical experience you won’t soon forget.

But for our immediate purposes,

Pandemic and the Policy Roots of a Steady State Economy

July 9, 2020/4 Comments/in Economic Growth, Economic Policy, Steady State Economy, Steady State Herald /by Brian Czech

by James Magnus-Johnston

Over a decade ago, a chorus of voices called for sensible policy priorities for a post-growth transition; it took a pandemic for a few of these priorities—like a universal basic income—to become a reality nearly overnight. Not that recent policy reforms have been conducted with a steady state economy in mind. Rather, politicians have been attempting to “stimulate” a moribund economy.

Let’s imagine for a moment,

To Be or Not to Be: Is the European Degrowth Movement Courting an Identity Crisis?

July 1, 2020/32 Comments/in Brian Czech, Degrowth, Economic Growth, Economic Policy, Environment, GDP, La Décroissance, Steady State Economy, Steady State Herald /by Brian Czech

by Brian Czech

To be or not to be

for lowering GDP.

Deciding is the fee

for degrowthers to be free!

(Free of confusion, that is, and degrees of self-defeat.)

In the heart of the Cold War, John F. Kennedy proclaimed, “Ich bin ein Berliner.” More than halfway to a century later,

Building Upon the Trophic Theory of Money: Preliminary Results from Canada

June 24, 2020/5 Comments/in Brian Czech, Economic Growth, Economic Policy, Environment, Food and Agriculture, Monetary Policy, Steady State Economy, Steady State Herald /by Brian Czech

By James Magnus-Johnston

The human economy doesn’t just mimic the economy of nature; it is part of it. It is woven directly into the ecological system of producers and consumers. Due to the technological prowess of Homo sapiens, though, the human presence dominates, threatening other species and the life support system of the planet. Human dominance over non-human life leads us to acknowledge some uncomfortable truths, particularly for proponents of “green growth.”

The first pertains to the loss of biodiversity.

Terrestrial and Solar Resources in a Steady State Economy

June 11, 2020/4 Comments/in Economic Growth, Economic Policy, Energy, Environment, Steady State Economy, Steady State Herald, Sustainability, Technology /by Brian Czech

by Herman Daly

Let us consider a different slant on the current discussion about the necessity versus sufficiency of renewable energy for a steady state economy at the present physical scale.

Pursuant to the pioneering economics of Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen (G-R), we recognize two sources of the low-entropy flow that sustains our lives: the solar and the terrestrial. They differ in their pattern of scarcity. The solar energy source is practically infinite in its stock dimension,

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by Brian Czech

by Brian Czech

by Madeline Baker

by Brian Czech

by Brian Snyder

by James Magnus-Johnston

by Brian Czech

by Herman Daly