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From “Growth Is Still Our Best Hope” by Allison Schrager for City Journal, Nov. 21:
Adherents of the degrowth philosophy believe that economic growth harms the planet, and that stopping it is our best hope to avert environmental catastrophe. . . .
Even if you accept the premise that we have only a few decades to achieve zero emissions or that the planet is doomed, growth remains our best hope. De-growthers are correct that endless consumption is not sustainable, but sustainable growth doesn’t come from consumption; it comes from innovation—squeezing out more growth from fewer resources. Innovation is why Malthus was proved wrong, and why a growing population did not mean running out of resources. Growth is our best hope for green technology.
It runs against our basic intuition to see that the economy is not zero-sum. The fact that so many people are open to the degrowth mindset shows how the economics profession has failed to educate the public. Sure, growth isn’t perfect; it can be uneven and cause disruption or environmental degradation. But the alternative is far worse.
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Appeared in the November 29, 2022, print edition.
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