Please look in your first year economic textbook on page 5, then you will know for sure that economic growth is the most important macroeconomic goal; without it you cannot increase quality of life…
Happy?
No? Why on earth not? How can you not be happy if real global GDP more than doubled since the 1950’s? Yeah, sure it is a bit crowded on earth with 7 billion people… Yeah I know we used up over 20% of the biomass … yes-yes which has been intact for billions of years.
… Okay, I know, food is a problem, 14% of the world is obese while 50% are malnourished and 1% even dies of starvation.
… yeah the financial crisis was a problem and really came down hard on the middle class...
I know we are losing most of our ecology; losing habitat, losing species, polluting the sea, polluting the air, polluting the soil, creating desserts, soil erosion… I know about 90% of the big fish in the sea is already gone ... yes the earth is heating substantially… what? There are already over 15000 global warming deaths per year!
… Sure, okay, the economic growth is destroying the earth…
… Sure we live in the most unequal society in history…
… I know a lot of ancient culture dies and languages disappear. … Yes, workers are dependent on big corporations for minimum wage… What? Factories in China have suicide nets across the building…
But surely the market will deliver… what market you ask? Where is the market?
I don’t know...
