Powerful book challenges the global policy of growth
Published: Mar 24, 2010 08:50 Updated: Mar 24, 2010 08:50
This thought-provoking title paves the way for a timely debate over our current growth-based economy combined with a global and insatiable demand for consumer goods.
Tim Jackson is Economics Commissioner of the Sustainable Development Commission, an independent advisory body to the UK government. The book is based on a report ‘Prosperity without Growth’ written for that commission.
The author, also professor of Sustainable Development at the University of Surrey, believes that prosperity, the ability to flourish as human beings within the ecological limits of our planet is an urgent task. We are facing the prospects of steadily rising commodity prices, the imminent end of the era of cheap oil, the collapse of fish stocks, water scarcity, rapid deforestation and a number of key minerals will be depleted in the coming decades. Yet people show no sign of worrying as they believe blindly that growth will last forever. But with one billion people in the world living on less than $1 a day, “we have no alternative but to question growth” says Jackson. “Economists have to answer the question of how a continually growing economic system can fit within a finite ecological system”.
This book challenges the assumption that growth is essential for prosperity. In other words, it asks whether it is possible to have “prosperity without growth”.
The 2008 banking crisis which shook the world was caused mainly by unsecured debt, loans given to people who could not afford to repay them, but also by the loosening of regulations and the over extension of credit. The same governments, who negligently, encouraged this age of financial irresponsibility, had to intervene, with a seven trillion dollars cash flow of public money, to prevent a total collapse of the financial markets.
If we agree that the unparalleled consumption growth between 1990 and 2007 was triggered by a gross expansion of credit and increasing levels of debt, we also have to accept the fact that a capitalist system is fuelled by debt.
Why are people all over the world encouraged to buy on credit? The partial answer to that question is that consumer goods play an unprecedented role in our lives:
“Material artifacts constitute a powerful ‘language of goods’ that we use to communicate with each other, not just about status, but also about identity, social affiliation, and even through giving and receiving gifts for example, about our feelings with each other, our hopes for our family, and our dreams of the good life” says Jackson.
To stimulate sales, manufacturers are constantly producing new goods that are meant to seduce the consumers. The latest smart phone, laptop, or a new line of clothes, the hottest handbags on the market, in short, novelty creates excitement and makes us dream. For many of us, the process which leads us to buy the object we dream of, is a form of escapism, taking us away from our lives filled with stress and problems.
In reality, we are prisoners in an “iron cage of consumerism”, a system which depends on liquidity and consumption and which collapses when either one decreases.
“Consumerism has developed partly as a means of protecting consumption-driven economic growth. But it promotes unproductive status competition and has damaging psychological and social impacts on people’s lives,” says Jackson.
Besides the necessity of implementing a sustainable economy, it is also time to question the way we live and tailor the changes to fit our real needs. Higher incomes do not guaranty happiness. The percentage of British people who were very happy decreased from 52 percent in 1957 to 36 percent today, despite the fact that their incomes have more than doubled. Denmark, Sweden, Ireland and New Zealand show higher levels of life-satisfaction than the United States but have significantly lower income levels.
We can break away from the addictive pattern of consumerism, where more is never enough, by shifting our ever changing materialistic values to more lasting ones. We also need to choose a lifestyle which curtails unnecessary needs and creates an atmosphere of peace, harmony and happiness.
This new kind of environment can already be experienced in community-based social enterprises such as local farmer’s market, slow food cooperatives, community health and fitness centers, local repair and maintenance services, or even craft workshops.
An increasing number of people are turning to hedonistic activities in an effort to escape a stressful life hence the global demand for spas for example. Some are also turning their backs to consumerism, a cultural trend which strengthens individualism at the expense of society, and are accepting a lower income to live a less materialistic life.
“Prosperity without Growth” addresses three issues: The need for sustainable growth, sustainable human activities and the damaging effect of consumerism. These issues cannot be resolved independently. The success of the implementation of environmental laws is tied to the re-structure of our present market economies.
Jackson is aware of the nature of the efforts required to achieve that goal. He believes that “a better and fairer social logic lies within our grasp” and depends essentially on our capacity to work for change. We can express our desire for change through our lifestyle, the things we buy, the way we travel and how we spend our leisure time. We can engage in community activities and decide to live a simpler life. A little change undertaken by many people can have a considerable positive impact on the environment.
“Prosperity without Growth” challenges the fundamental economic principle of continued growth which has been the main goal of economists since the beginning of the industrial revolution. Jackson brings up the economic issues involved in ending growth but he avoids the use of a jargon, so dear to economists. This brilliant analysis written in a clear prose, forces each one of us to confront the truth and act upon it.
Book info:
Prosperity Without Growth Economics for a Finite Planet
by Tim Jackson
Published by Earthscan
Hardback, 264 Pages
