The Limits of Economic Growth

For most of the twentieth century, economic growth was regarded as an unequivocal good. Rising output was synonymous with improving living standards and political stability. Increasingly, however, economists question whether perpetual growth is compatible with a finite planet. Advocates of green growth maintain that prosperity can be decoupled from environmental damage. They point to countries whose emissions have fallen even as their economies expanded. Sceptics retort that such reductions are neither rapid nor widespread enough to avert catastrophe. Some go further, advocating a deliberate scaling back of consumption in wealthy nations. Detractors dismiss this as politically unfeasible and potentially devastating for employment. The debate ultimately hinges on how we choose to define and measure progress itself.