Economic growth is destroying more than it is creating, argues the French president as he calls for a new measure of national wealth
… GDP should be scrapped, says Sarkozy The Ecologist | 15th September 2009 News GDP Economic Growth Sustainability Happy … report which urges governments to stop using GDP as the primary measure of progress. The …
The financial cost of the diseases of modern civilization is almost double the budget of the National Health Service, writes Jules Pretty, while the economy has grown past the point of greatest satisfaction. Our over-riding priority should be to move to greener, healthier, more sustainable and satisfying ways of life.
… of life. Increases in gross domestic product (GDP) beyond a threshold of basic needs do not … as lead to better lives for its citizens. GDP growth has brought with it substantial … and life satisfaction seem to peak at low GDP, and do not increase as GDP grows. As the …
In the industrial era, economic growth has become equated with human progress, writes Jules Pretty, with a fundamental assumption that material growth and consumption inevitably leads to improvements in our well-being. Now think again ...
… trillion, according to the World Bank . Thus GDP per capita has almost doubled - so we … countries confirm that at very low per-capita GDP, life satisfaction increases sharply with … consumption, and the relentless pursuit of GDP growth does not lead to consistent gains …
Misguided images of sacrifice may be putting people off living more sustainable lifestyles. But reversing that may require policymakers to start encouraging wider metrics of success and happiness
… Sustainability Politics And Economics Society GDP sustainablelogo.jpg People often have … of well-being and wealth by economists with GDP regarded as the last word in measuring … the UNEP study on sustainability points out, GDP is not a reliable indicator of happiness …
It's called the 'Cinderella economy'. You know it as the local, sustainable businesses that don't make the GDP figures soar, but do provide jobs and glue communities together...
… 26th January 2010 News Politics And Economics GDP Growth Prosperity Without Growth Money … sustainable businesses that don't make the GDP figures soar, but do provide jobs and glue … So if they contribute anything at all to GDP, their labour productivity growth is of …
Orthodox economic measures like Gross Domestic product fail to measure the things that matter most, write Judith Schleicher & Bhaskar Vira: like human wellbeing and ecological health. This creates a systematic bias in 'development' policies that must urgently be addressed if we are to build an inclusive, equitable and sustainable society
… and measurable. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has been the most prominent approach since the end of World War II, with GDP seen as a useful snapshot of the state of … recent assessment suggested that conventional GDP figures had greatly exaggerated growth …
Well-being is not just a luxury for good economic times, writes Christine Berry. Reducing poverty and promoting equality are more important economic goals than the pursuit of endless growth.
… 'GWB' - General Well-Being - alongside GDP, he was still a fresh-faced leader of the … in a recession. Saying we should go beyond GDP is all very well when GDP is going up, but when it's not, then …
New research predicts that coastal regions face massive increases in damages from storm surge flooding over the 21st century - to $100 trillion annually, more than the world's entire economic product today.
… world's current Gross Domestic Product (GDP) - represents the upper end of the … will cost between 0.3 and 9.3% of global GDP by 2100, taking into acount expected GDP increases. But timely investments in …
Britain's deep-seated environmental and economic problems have nothing to do with immigration, writes Adam Ramsay, and everything to do with our unjust and divisive social order, and the austerity that is being inflicted on us by an oppressive ruling class.
… what he means. Economic Growth "increases GDP / 'economic growth' - something distinctly … for a moment the debate between the idea that GDP intrinsically damages the environment and … doesn't necessarily mean an increase in GDP per person, just an increase in overall …
Sooner or later, humanity will have to accept the constraints of a finite world, writes Guy Shrubsole. But two rival economic visions offer conflicting paths to sustainability. In fact, it's time to stop arguing and get on with it - going for green growth in the near term, while aiming for a deeper societal transformation.
… for population growth of 0.7% annually - and GDP growth of 1.4% annually - will require 7% … which the response of some is - forget about GDP growth, at least in the rich nations. This … Jacobs, suggests that we can sustain low GDP growth of 1-2% p/a, providing it's matched …
Economist Herman E Daly argues that our future depends on a new economic model, one that needs to be defined by the dynamic balance – the steady state – of the natural world upon which it depends.
… used to produce goods and services) or GDP (gross domestic product – the total volume … Trying to define sustainability in terms of GDP is problematic because GDP conflates qualitative development (an …
Protests of unprecedented scale have been taking place in China against rapid and deadly environmental destruction. A new youth movement is taking to the streets and demanding change. Sam Geall reports
… change. Sam Geall reports “We don’t need GDP. We need life.” Not a slogan from the … the same video that cast doubts on China ’s GDP growth. So are some of China ’s citizens …
As worldwide Governments blindly attempt to support unlimited growth using limited resources, Tim Jackson believes the answer to true sustainability may lie on the economy's fringes
… unemployment can rise even with a rise in the GDP: it’s quite possible for this to lead to … employment to rise even without a rise in the GDP. At first sight this doesn’t seem very …
Green growth is a myth, writes André Reichel, because it ignores the social, political and personal dimensions of sustainability. Instead we must plan for economic 'de-growth' - and go for growth only in the areas that really matter, like culture, learning and joy.
… slightly over the past 20 years, while GDP has steadily increased. But Germany has … parity each year in order to maintain its GDP . Growth can go on - in culture, joy, …
Our lives are now so dependent on oil that it is impossible to conceive of a world without it. Before long, however, we will have no choice. The sooner we start planning for that reality, and changing the way we live, the better our chance of survival.
… cheap oil. Growth in gross domestic product (GDP) has always depended on the increasing … which has depended on cheap energy. Growth in GDP has always been mirrored by growth in … by western economies to have ‘decoupled’ GDP growth from energy growth merely reflects …
As water shortages, and water prices, rocket farmers are leaving fields fallow to sell the irrigation water to cities where it is illegal for restaurants to give customers water unless they ask for it.
… ask for it. According to some measures of GDP California is the seventh largest economy …
Deep in rural Sussex at Wakehurst Place, in a large nature reserve of 500 acres of National Trust woodlands and lakes, stands the Kew Gardens Biological Research Centre. Sixty feet beneath is a nuclear bunker. This is the British National Doomsday vault, home to the UK’s Millennium Seed Bank (MSB). If apocalyptic disaster strikes, this bunker will hold key bio-scientists and all remaining plant life.
… in a country with a gross domestic product (GDP) of over £1.3 thousand billion, where all … one-thousandth of one per cent of our annual GDP – to continue and accelerate our work …
Worried about debt, defaults and deficits? Save up your concern for the real problem, writes Glen Barry. The systematic destruction Earth's natural ecosystems for short-term profit is the 'bubble' that underlies economic growth - and if allowed to continue its bursting will leave the Earth in a state of social, economic and ecological collapse.
… industrial capitalism's narrow focus upon GDP growth as a measure of a society's …
It’s the battle of the century. In one corner, the Economy – big, bloated, greedy and growing. In the other, the planet Earth – fragile, finite and fighting back.
… tolerate that. We always need more – that’s GDP and ‘growth’. We need always to produce … per hour of work. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) would go back to what it was intended to …
Just as Sir Nicholas Stern’s report in October 2006 put a price on the effects of climate change, a new report by the UN has begun to cost out the threat of failing to conserve the world’s biodiversity – a cool £40 billion annually, and rising.
… yardstick that is more effective than GDP for assessing the performance of an …
The renowned primatologist and conservationist on the need for scientific empathy, the impact of economic development, and why children give her hope for the future
… Pavan Sukhdev: you can have progress without GDP-led growth Deutsche Bank economist Pavan …