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Prosperity Without Growth: Economics For A Finite Planet (2009)

by Tim Jackson(Favorite Author)

3.9 of 5 Votes: 1

ISBN

1844078949 (ISBN13: 9781844078943)

languge

English

genre

Nonfiction

publisher

Routledge

review 1: Underwhelming. Significant gaps. Tim Jackson, with the UK Sustainable Development Commission, published 'Prosperity without Growth' to summarize the commission's findings for the general public. The intent of the work is to raise awareness for alternative economic models in the wake of the financial collapse. The book reads as a summary report with moderate depth and extensive references.The book does a good job of describing why alternative economic models are necessary. The first reason are ecological limits (see Turner et al., "Perspectives on the ‘Environmental Limits’ Concept," 2007., and Robert Ayres, "Sustainability Economics: Where do We Stand?", Ecological Economics 2008.) The second reason is that growth is no longer meeting social goals. Tim's career r... moreesearch focuses on this point, where he deftly shows how consumption habits are unfulfilling and detrimental to prosperity. The central conundrum is that economic growth is unsustainable and degrowth or steady-state is unstable. The rest of the book is spent trying to understand a way out of this trap. Further growth with less resource intensity is not viable, as described in the chapter on the myth of decoupling. There are no current models for a stable degrowth or steady-state economy, and the complexity of the transition makes it harder. There needs to be enough alternatives investment to have them ready in time, but too much investment could crash the economy through over-spending and lack of financial return. He makes a few policy recommendations for an alternative economic model, or to at least expand the time frame for solutions: Keynesian green spending plans, ecosystem services investment, emphasizing employment in human service sectors, and more equitable sharing of reduced working hours. This is where the book is weakest, and many important points that jeopardize a less-intensive, steady-state economy, are left unexplored. The issues are many:- In response to the Stern review, he mentions that the transition and mitigation costs for climate are underestimated, but doesn't go into how are why they are underestimated. (Stern recently has increased his estimate for mitigation costs since the book was published). The mitigation costs come from top-down economic models which assume substitutability between factors of production, which the book showed is an incorrect assumption. This was an obvious point that was missed. - He suggests that limits on resource consumption be set, but leaves it to others to determine those limits. This is problematic, because setting limits is an inherently value-laden process with implications on transition possibilities, so he should have at least attempted an answer. - He explains how decoupling isn't likely to work, even referring to attempts at shifting to a human service-sector based economy as a "Cinderella economy", yet goes on to suggest just that as a key policy option. This ignores his own evidence of the lack of financial importance of the 'Cinderella economy', how little room there is in the long-term to achieve de-coupling by reducing labor hours, and how commoditizing public or private social goods can work against the sense of shared prosperity that curbs consumerism. - He advocates for the voluntary simplicity movement, and does acknowledge that many who do it are older and have the financial resources to stop working, but fails to see how that seriously weakens the case that it is a psychologically viable alternative to the novelty and status-seeking of consumerism. - He repeats the popularized statement of ecological tax reform, 'tax bads like pollution, not goods like income', right after describing how inequality is a driver of consumption.- He repeats the popularized "green-frogging" idea of having poor countries advance countries immediately to the best green technologies. This ignores the reality that tech industries are poor choices for economic development in the poorest countries, because the capital and educational requirements are so high, as explained in E.F. Schumacher's "Small is Beautiful". - The book ignores the question of political economy and targeted manipulation by powerful industry interests, who have halted progress on climate action in both the U.S. and the U.K.. These oversights made the book underwhelming, and left several important questions unanswered: - Is the voluntary simplicity movement a viable replacement to the consumerist mindset?- What are minimum viable economic sectors and activities for prosperity in a contraction / collapse scenario?- What are prior examples of differing substitutability of key material and energy resources?- What is a coherent theory of change for encouraging action at the individual and social level? How significant can such a change be, and what are the key limitations? - For the economies mentioned that prospered through recession because of good social institutions, what were the institutions, and how resilient could they be made to be in a longer recession?Overall, 'Prosperity without Growth' is a decent summary of the economic problem of ecological limits and counter-productive growth. The writing could be more concise, so I suggest skimming the first 3 chapters and the last chapter. Much of the book is underwhelming, but the reference list is excellent, providing depth and rigor on the subject.
review 2: This book is the first great step in providing a grounded manifesto in sustainable, zero growth, green economics in which Tim jackson gives answers to many fundamental problems that arise with a no growth type base economy:- happiness peaks at $15'000 per capita, however the income distribution in all countries measured has vast inequalities, it is not money that equals happiness but fundamentally some freedoms alligned with the basic rights to a pleasurable life, which includes food, drink and shelter. A zero Growth economy would re distribute wealth so as to allow all induviduals to have the basic goods as above, with the added freedom to choose to work in society for the good of society.- society at curret is based upon consumer novelty, i.e. yesterday's t-shirt is no good, you need a new one because it embodies your status in this current society, the ability to buy a t-shirt symbolises your power in the consumer society. However, morally this economy drives growth past the ecological limits of the planet, and does so in a bid to create pockets of wealth, where historically the initiative was taken first (Britain, America, Europe, China etc). But the only remedy to stop the planets resources and ecology from being used up is to stop growing, and halt the accelerating use of natural resources.-Thus the inevitable conclusion is that a change in economic tructure requires a shift in the psychological outlook of each induvidual. the 'consumer society' psyche must transform in to a pyshce aimed at sustainability, otherwise nothing can change.It is a great read, with massively important conclusions.A relevent Quote to end on:Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything. - George Bernard Shaw less

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