This report attempts to shed light on whether nations can prosper without actually achieving sustainable growth. It also questions whether the benefits of continued economic growth still outweigh the costs, and scrutinises the assumption that growth is essential for prosperity. The paper argues that prosperity can only be conceived as a condition that includes obligations and responsibilities to others and that rising prosperity is not the same thing as economic growth. It further notes that the conventional response to the growth dilemma is to appeal to the concept of ‘decoupling’. This is where production processes are reconfigured, goods and services are redesigned, and economic outputs become progressively less dependent on materials. In this way, it is hoped that the economy can continue to grow without breaching ecological limits.
The author indicates that there exists a growth dilemma where economies are caught between the desire to maintain economic stability and the need to reduce resource use and emissions. Furthermore, achieving lasting prosperity relies on providing capabilities for people to flourish within certain limits. Those limits are established by the ecology and resources of the planet. The report recommends the following issues which should guide the building of a sustainable macro-economy:
There is an urgent need to develop the capabilities required to build a new macro-economics for sustainability
Invest in jobs, assets and infrastructures of a new macroeconomics for sustainability
Reform the regulation of national and international financial markets, increase public control of the money supply and incentivise domestic savings
Tackle systematic inequality through well-established redistributive mechanisms and policies is needed
Define an appropriate measurement framework for lasting prosperity
There is a need to systematically dismantle incentives towards materialistic consumption and unproductive status completion
Policies are needed to create and protect shared public spaces, strengthen community-based sustainability initiatives, reduce geographical labour mobility
Place more responsibility for planning in the hands of local communities and protect public service broadcasting, museum funding, public libraries, parks and green spaces.
This summary was prepared by Eldis.