What does progress look like if we stop pursuing economic growth?

via Transforming Society from Policy Press

In their ground-breaking book, The Economics of Arrival, Katherine Trebeck and Jeremy Williams argue that, although everyday economics tells us there is no such thing as enough growth, we have, in fact, ‘arrived’. Economic growth has already brought unrivalled prosperity for GDP-rich countries; we have enough.

The challenge is now to make ourselves at home with this prosperity, to ensure we all enjoy the fruits of growth before they rot, through debt, inequality, climate change and fractured politics.

If growth is an inadequate goal, what should we be pursuing instead? There are many forms of progress, for both countries that have arrived and countries who are not there yet.

It’s important to underline the fact that growth still matters in our thinking. Growth makes arrival possible, but context is everything. Wherever people don’t have enough for a good standard of living, growth can be vital – as long as it’s shared and put to good use. But once diminishing marginal returns set in, it’s not clear what more growth is for; its work is done.

We use a variety of metaphors for this in the book. We talk about the economy being grown up, like a mature tree reaching its full and rightful size. We talk about building a house, and how growth is like the bricks and concrete that provides the structure of the house, but not the warmth and welcome of the home. In the same way, we rely on growth at the earlier stages of development to provide the resources, income, infrastructure and materials to provide a good life for everyone. Growth gives us the foundations on which to build a lasting home – but you don’t live in the foundations.

What comes afterwards is going to be a more qualitative form of progress, and the book explores a number of different avenues for progress after growth.

Continue reading

---