Beyond carbon, capitalism and consumerism

The Journal of Population and Sustainability, 2017

The idea of physical limits to human economic systems is advanced by physical scientists and ecological economists, as well as appealing to the common sense proposition that unending growth in physical processes such as material extraction and waste disposal will ultimately be inconsistent with any finite entity, even one as large as the Earth. Yet growth remains the central aim of business and government almost everywhere. This paper examines the history of the idea of economic growth and the many influences and interests that supported – and still support – its enshrinement as the principal aim of human societies. These include the apparatus of propaganda in favour of corporate interests; the emphasis on international trade; the funding of environmental denial; and, underlying all these, the corporate requirement for profit to continue to increase. The dominance of these influences has serious consequences for the natural world while growth has failed to solve the problems of pove...

Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 2012

Sustainability: Key Issues, 2015

Macroeconomic theory and policy are strongly based on the assumption that economic growth is a fundamental goal. The environmental realities of the twenty- first century compel a reassessment of macro theory in terms of the impact of current growth patterns on planetary ecosystems. This paper examines the macroeconomic impacts of growth in terms of several major areas of conflict between economic demands and ecosystem capacities: (1) energy use and fossil fuel dependence (2) greenhouse gas emissions and climate change (3) transportation systems and automobile use (4) food systems and agricultural productivity (5) water, forests, and fisheries (6) toxic chemicals and wastes Implications for macroeconomic theory include a modification of the goal of increasing consumption, and a distinction between the consumption of necessities and luxuries. In addition, macro theory needs to address the issue of how to achieve a stable, full- employment economy in the absence of continual growth. Th...

GDAE Working Papers

Macroeconomic theory and policy are strongly based on the assumption that economic growth is a fundamental goal. The environmental realities of the twenty-first century compel a reassessment of macro theory in terms of the impact of current growth patterns on planetary ecosystems. This paper examines the macroeconomic impacts of growth in terms of several major areas of conflict between economic demands and ecosystem capacities: (1) energy use and fossil fuel dependence (2) greenhouse gas emissions and climate change (3) transportation systems and automobile use (4) food systems and agricultural productivity (5) water, forests, and fisheries (6) toxic chemicals and wastes Implications for macroeconomic theory include a modification of the goal of increasing consumption, and a distinction between the consumption of necessities and luxuries. In addition, macro theory needs to address the issue of how to achieve a stable, fullemployment economy in the absence of continual growth. The role of social investment and the provision of public goods needs to be recognized. The concept of a 'long-term growth path' should be modified to take account of the specific impact of investment choices that affect long-term economic structure, and the concept of GDP needs to be broadened to a multidimensional measure of well-being. Macroeconomic policy implications include a shift in tax burden from income, capital, and labor to energy, materials, and waste flows, an increase in public investment, and new global institutions to regulate capital flows and transfer funds to developing nations.

Ecological Economics, 1995

Ann N Y Acad Sci, 2010

Boulding's 1966 paper on the economics of spaceship Earth established the framework for ecological economics and an understanding of economic growth. In ecological economics, economies are conceptualized as open subsystems of the closed biosphere and are subject to biophysical laws and constraints. Economic growth measured as an increase in real gross domestic product (GDP) has generally been associated with increases in the use of energy and materials and the generation of wastes. Scale, composition, and technology are the proximate determinants of environmental impacts. They are often reduced to two: scale (GDP) and intensity (impact per unit GDP). New work described in this paper defines "green" growth as intensity that declines faster than scale increases. Similarly, "brown" growth occurs when intensity declines more slowly than increases in scale, and "black" growth happens when both scale and intensity increase. These concepts are then related to the environmental Kuznets curve, which can be understood as a transition from brown to green growth. Ecological economics provides a macroperspective on economic growth. It offers broad policy principles, and it challenges the primacy of economic growth as a policy objective, but many important questions remain.

Clio, 2024

SEM O DIABO NO CORPO. A NEGAÇÃO DA POSSESSÃO NA INQUISIÇÃO PORTUGUESA (SÉCULOS XVII E XVIII) RESUMO: O presente artigo investiga os registros inquisitoriais de casos de possessão demoníaca em Portugal, na Época Moderna, buscando interpretar os critérios pelos quais um episódio era considerado autêntico e outro era considerado fraudulento. Baseado na análise crítica dos procedimentos de agentes do Santo Ofício, o artigo estabelece os pressupostos, mais práticos que teóricos, por meio dos quais a possessão demoníaca era aceita ou negada pelas autoridades religiosas em Portugal. Os resultados da investigação estabelecem diálogos com realidades análogas em outros contextos europeus e com as tentativas recentes da historiografia em compreender os critérios de veracidade (e de falsidade) próprios da Época Moderna, por meio dos quais os indivíduos avaliavam os eventos cotidianos e os extraordinários, as realidades mundanas e as espirituais.