steady state economics #ark-investing

12.15: news.pol/ark-investing/steady state economics:
12.16: summary:
. the political problem we are up against
is that enforcement of a much needed
steady state economy
is tantamount to mandatory population control .
. it's not just for environmentalism either;
we need to stop investing in
expanding the human population
in order to start investing in new cities
that can protect us from either global warming
or the next ice age .

steadystate.org`position statement:
Whereas:
1) Economic growth, as defined in
standard economics textbooks,
is an increase in the production and
consumption of goods and services,
and;
2) Economic growth occurs when there is
an increase in the multiplied product of
population and per capita consumption,
and;
3) The global economy grows as an integrated whole consisting of agricultural, extractive, manufacturing, and services sectors that require physical inputs and produce wastes, and;

4) Economic growth is often and generally indicated by increasing real gross domestic product (GDP) or real gross national product (GNP), and;

5) Economic growth has been a primary, perennial goal of many societies and most governments, and;

6) Based upon established principles of physics and ecology, there is a limit to economic growth, and;

7) There is increasing evidence that global economic growth is having negative effects on long-term ecological and economic welfare…

Therefore, we take the position that:

1) There is a fundamental conflict between economic growth and environmental protection (for example, biodiversity conservation, clean air and water, atmospheric stability), and;

2) There is a fundamental conflict between economic growth and the ecological services underpinning the human economy (for example, pollination, decomposition, climate regulation), and;

3) Technological progress has had many positive and negative ecological and economic effects and may not be depended on to reconcile the conflict between economic growth and long-term ecological and economic welfare, and;

4) Economic growth, as gauged by increasing GDP, is an increasingly dangerous and anachronistic goal, especially in wealthy nations with widespread affluence, and;

5) A steady state economy (that is, an economy with a relatively stable, mildly fluctuating product of population and per capita consumption) is a viable alternative to a growing economy and has become a more appropriate goal in large, wealthy economies, and;

6) The long-run sustainability of a steady state economy requires its establishment at a size small enough to avoid the breaching of reduced ecological and economic capacity during expected or unexpected supply shocks such as droughts and energy shortages, and;

7) A steady state economy does not preclude economic development, a dynamic, qualitative process in which different technologies may be employed and the relative prominence of economic sectors may evolve, and;

8) Upon establishing a steady state economy, it would be advisable for wealthy nations to assist other nations in moving from the goal of economic growth to the goal of a steady state economy, beginning with those nations currently enjoying high levels of per capita consumption, and;

9) For many nations with widespread poverty, increasing per capita consumption (or, alternatively, more equitable distributions of wealth) remains an appropriate goal.