Unceasing growth must end as it will lead us all into misery. The economic theories of today are based upon various forms of growth, all exponential. The dogma is that it is necessary to have growth, unstoppable perpetual growth. We have obviously stopped thinking about what this is and what it means. It is also important to note that the political-economic system is in trouble with more or less continous crises.
Our economic system is based upon globally roaming investors putting money into mostly large scale industries and agriculture for profit. If profit falls in one place move your money to another place. Leave everything behind when you leave, just find new ventures.
There are many theories of growth, all based on dynamic, innovative thinking, new technology and about how to increase rates of return. The real need for what is produced is only of minor interest. We have all become used to this model – this is how we run the world.
Many growth theories have been put forward. Arab, classical, neo-classical, endogenous, unified, even the Big Push. Mathematical models have also been tried with no great results.
Economic growth is usually measured in terms of a percentage change of GDP or GNP. It is also adjusted for price levels and inflation. Complexity is made enourmous by economists, and economic growth is a powerful factor that can change economies in all sorts of ways.
The real intention of production - having enough of what you need – is not good enough, so we must expand into luxuries, put money aside for power games like war, projects.
This kind of exponential growth in ever expanding economies leads to trouble and new thinking is needed.
In a good future world population growth can not be exponential, and production systems for a stable population need not be exponential either. It should be sustainable and permanently so. Facing this challenge seems to lie far into the future, but it should not be so. This is not a global question, it is about how we run our economies where we are – it is about shared responsibility. We need to start facing this challenge now. This is a challenge we do not seem to understand at the moment.
It is about a fair world: how to produce sustainably, and permanently so, in order to provide enough for everybody in the world. The obvious solution has to do with a return to small scale production, removal of the greedy profit motive, distributed ownership, higher numbers of people being involved, reduction of investor influence, local solutions with local control in all economic matters.
Must we go through a catastrophe to change things or can we sensibly and reasonably develop a good future way for all? So far development factors have been profit, power, concentration and exclusion of others, globalism and exponential growth which clearly is not sustainable and unfair too.
The way ahead may mean less of many things for the few, and many more things for all. The powers for fair change must grow or the system is going to break down. It is easy to see which way we are heading now – it is not going to be pretty. There will be pain and anger if we do not change our ways. It is perhaps not possible to change a development direction that has been under way for hundreds of years?
Being capable of such grand thinking – a good world for all – that is the challenge.