Steady State Economy Archives – Page 5 of 18 – Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy

Fair Incomes for a Healthy Future: The Sustainable Salaries Act

September 24, 2020/10 Comments/in Biodiversity, Economic Growth, Economic Policy, Steady State Economy, Steady State Herald, Sustainability /by Brian Czech

by Ashfia Khan

To achieve sustainability in the USA and generally, it is crucial that we narrow the income gap between the highest and lowest earners. An equitable distribution of income is a prerequisite of social and environmental sustainability. It’s not just about sustainability, either—it’s about fairness, too.

People tend to be happier and healthier in societies where there is a more equitable distribution of wealth, as well as more likely to receive higher education and have a longer life expectancy.

Wealth Transfers, Carbon Dioxide Removal, and the Steady State Economy

September 17, 2020/5 Comments/in Climate Change, Economic Growth, Economic Policy, Energy, Environment, Poverty, Steady State Economy, Steady State Herald, Sustainability /by Brian Czech

by Brian Snyder

In 2019, the U.S. per capita GDP was $65,000. It seems obvious that this level of economic activity is more than sufficient to meet the needs of the U.S. population; after all, if we can’t live fulfilled, productive lives in an economy producing $65,000 per person per year, more money and production will never be enough. Further, additional per capita economic growth in the USA is uneconomic. For example, economic growth to $75,000 per person per year will not increase our economic wellbeing nearly as much as it will decrease ecological wellbeing;

“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,

Book Review: Crazy Climate and Rigged Economies by Gerry Greaves

July 29, 2020/0 Comments/in Climate Change, Economic Growth, Economic Policy, Steady State Economy, Steady State Herald /by Brian Czech

By Skyler Perkins

Crazy Climate and Rigged Economies begins with a story of a boy who aspires to engineer a bridge. That young boy was author Gerry Greaves, and though he never designed a bridge during his career as a structural engineer, his new book offers a conceptual bridge to a sustainable society. Greaves guides readers through the challenges of our unsustainable and rigged economy and promotes solutions to stabilize our democracy,

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,

Posts

by Ashfia Khan

by Brian Snyder

by Brian Czech

by Madeline Baker

by Brian Czech

by Brian Snyder

by James Magnus-Johnston

by Brian Czech