The Impossible Hamster

What the impossible hamster has to teach us about economic growth. A new animation from nef (the new economics foundation), scripted by Andrew Simms, numbers crunched by Viki Johnson and pictures realised by Leo Murray.

www.neweconomics.org
www.onehundredmonths.org
www.wakeupfreakout.org
www.impossiblehamster.org

We wanted to confront people with the meaning and logical conclusion of the promise of endless economic growth. We used a hamster to illustrate what would happen if there were no limits to growth because they double in size each week before reaching maturity at around 6 weeks. But if a hamster grew at the same rate until its first birthday, wed be looking at a nine billion tonne hamster, which ate more than a years worth of world maize production every day. There are reasons in nature, why things dont grow indefinitely. As things are in nature, sooner or later, so they must be in the economy. As economic growth rises, we are pushing the planet ever closer to, and beyond some very real environmental limits. With every doubling in the global economy we use the equivalent in resources of all of the previous doublings combined.

Concept, script and narration: Andrew Simms
Animation: Leo Murray & Thomas Bristow
Sound: Louis Slipperz
Scientific Adviser: Victoria Johnson

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• climate change
• economic growth
• global warming
• direct action
• protest
• GDP
• gross domestic product
• hamster
• environmental limits
• well-being
• consumerism
• capitalism
• economics
• fat hamster
• greedy hamster
• cute pets

[jffryh]

@MrLibertea There are differences in credibility between religious zealot nut jobs predicting the second coming of the amazing magic jesus relative to predictions made by the director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies

[jffryh]

@MrLibertea There is also something in economics called externalities.

There are irreversible outcomes we are placing into the pipeline today which won't be felt for decades into the future; and when the outcomes do eventually arrive, the human species, along with every other form of life on earth, will be unable to survive. Free market forces are not preventing this outcome. Only governments today have capacity tax carbon and end fossil fuel industry.

[bosebucks375]

why don't they just kill it?

[Gooddavi]

@ghostmosquito that is not the problem in any such way, we give cattle enough grain to feed the world over multiple times, we spend trillions on arms and armaments, the rich are getting richer the poor are getting poor and the developed are developing from the underdevelopment of the third world. And not only those people, us too are the victims of a global capitalist system that distracts us with consumer goods and mainstream music, popular culture

[rym87]

@jffryh True. The problem is that nobody understands externalities and politicians aren't willing to price them. How do we move from a debate among some economists to a debate in mainstream society?

[Em1mtha]

*blame

[Em1mtha]

Great vid overpopulation is not the main problem . But it i were to be a stone cold economist sucking the life out of the planet and exploiting 3rd world countrys id probly bland it on overpopulation..

[Pims444]

lolwut

[Skippan]

@ghostmosquito I think mostly like you. Fortunately societies are becoming healthier and with less children opposed to the situation decades before where families were sick and with 3 or 4 children on average. Check Hans Rosling videos on TED

[ghostmosquito]

@jffryh all problems comes from overpopulation. Everyone would like to tackle the flashy topics of climate change, food shortage, energy crisis... but no one wants to talk about how many kids people should be allowed to have. Less people, less competition, less need.

[GoldingPurple]

First the video starts with this oversize hamster then it goes to the economy. Mind = blown