technological progess Archives – Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy

Blinded by the Light: Techno-Optimism in Overshoot

April 9, 2026/7 Comments/in David Shreve, Economic Policy, Energy, Fossil Fuels, Ideology, Limits to Growth, Population, Steady State Herald, Sustainability, Technology /by Alix Underwood

by David Shreve

Lovers of technology tend to love quantitative analysis. But when it comes to the accounting of Earth’s biocapacity and our ecological footprint, these same technophiles are often happy to ignore simple arithmetic. While increasingly rigorous and reliable, the “overshoot” accounting they dismiss does include some difficult-to-measure variables. It will always be imperfect.

But for many nearsighted techno-optimists, this is beside the point. They argue that modern scientists have engineered such technological marvels that we should only expect more,

Book Review: National Accounts and Environmentally Sustainable National Income by Roefie Hueting and Bart de Boer

March 31, 2020/0 Comments/in Economic Growth, Economic Policy, Environment, Steady State Economy, Steady State Herald, Sustainability /by Brian Czech

By Gerry Greaves

When CASSE’s Executive Director, Brian Czech, asked me if I would like to review a book on national accounts, my first reaction was, “Why would I care?” I was familiar with the national accounting system, but my concentration in environmental advocacy typically focused on climate change and its effects on economic inequality. My interest was piqued, though, when he explained that this book was different, because the authors had developed a system to incorporate environmental sustainability in the national accounts.

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by David Shreve