Do We Need Economic Growth?
Yesterday, Professor Emeritus John Ikerd published an insightful essay on the fallacy that we need economic growth all the time...
The public perception is that economies need to grow continuously. We are born into the idea that the economy needs to grow, and if it’s not growing, it’s dying. Any stance contrary to this immediately sounds lunatic, un-American, even.
Here’s Professor John Ikerd’s take:
“Regardless, the economic, social, and political mantra that “economic growth is good” continues to dominate public perceptions and monetary policies in the United States. The success or failure of presidential administrations is reassessed after each quarterly GDP report. If the GDP declines for two consecutive quarters, the economy is widely considered to be in “recession,” and the administration is in trouble. If the economy is growing, everything is okay. Regardless of social or environmental consequences, the government is expected to keep the economy growing, and the faster the better.”
The United States has had the fastest-growing economy for decades. This is an achievement to be proud of for the sheer capacity of its people, stellar innovation, and operational resilience in the face of cultural and geopolitical challenges.
But do countries that have a robust and mature economy need to keep growing at all costs all the time?
