"Economic Growth" is the growth of DEPLETION (graph of general trends)

Endless growth of the population and economy is at odds with physical limits on this finite planet. No amount of GDP accounting can create material resources out of thin air, and money holds no value unto itself. The market is only forward-thinking if the people setting prices are.

This clip doesn't depict the exact rates of depletion, it just shows the general concept. Some trends are per-capita (e.g. water, land & food), while others are absolute (e.g. oil and extinctions). Food production is already overwhelmed by population growth; fisheries being a major example. So-called renewable resources are subject to finite conditions like the availability of land and water. They offer no magic solution if population growth overwhelms regenerative capacity.

You'll know that true progress is being made when politicians and business leaders speak of a steady-state economy, rather than a constantly growing one. Most signs point to this not happening until a convergence of resource limits is reached; cheap oil being the most significant.

If the mathematics of consumption & depletion doesn't register with you, see the video titled "Failure to discern between large and infinite..." We can't keep relying on fantasies like "infinite substitution" and "no limits to human ingenuity."

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News & Politics

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• population
• economic
• growth
• resource
• depletion
• deficit
• credit
• debt
• inflation
• cost
• living
• finite
• limits
• Earth
• quality
• life