Optimal Sustainable Scale

Description

CASSE:

"Management of the economy in a full world and avoidance of uneconomic growth urgently require a transition to a steady state economy of optimal scale. We need to understand the real relationship between the economy and its containing ecosystems. But finding the Goldilocks scale of the economy—the size that’s not too small, and not too large, but just right—is no easy feat.

In cases where the benefits of growth outweigh the costs (for example, where excess ecological capacity exists and people are not consuming enough to meet their needs), growth is warranted prior to establishing a steady state economy. In cases where the economy has overshot ecological bounds, degrowth is necessary before stabilization. Businesses, governments and citizens will need to adjust the scale of the economy through accurate measurement of benefits and costs, trial and error, regulation of markets, and political will. This task of homing in on optimal scale is a critical challenge of our times, and the key to reaching a viable future." (http://steadystate.org/wp-content/uploads/CASSE_Brief_Sustainable_Scale.pdf)

Discussion

Uneconomic Growth

CASSE:

"Long before the economy threatens the resilience of ecosystems, economic growth can become undesirable. Much growth (i.e., increasing GDP) consists of “defensive expenditures,” products and services that counteract the negative consequences of other economic activities. An example of a defensive expenditure is the treatment of cancer caused by industrial pollution. Even assuming a product causes no direct harm to its user, its production inevitably contributes to the depletion of natural resources. The tradeoff between products and natural resources may be worthwhile when the economy is small, but as it grows, the additional products become increasingly costly. Through much of human history people have been made better off by having and consuming more things. In high-consuming countries today, however, the costs of increased production often outweigh the benefits. Further growth has become uneconomic." (http://steadystate.org/wp-content/uploads/CASSE_Brief_Sustainable_Scale.pdf)