The ecological economy an essay
Can growth and sustainable ecology go hand In hand? Or does one cancel out the other? A financial slump could present stark choices
Hubert Bauch, The Gazette
Published: 18 hours ago

Picture a drunk so far gone that he's bent on drinking himself sober.

It's much like the behaviour of governments and central banks in Canada and the U.S. in the face of a looming North American recession, suggests Robert Costanza.

In response to an economic downturn caused by excesses of debt run up in pursuit of over-consumption, the banks have slashed interest rates and governments have cut sales taxes and offered tax rebates in hopes that people will spend more on stuff and services and thereby boost the economy back to full-throttle growth. Heaven forbid they should invest it in savings; it would be the ruination of the whole scheme.

"It's crazy, insanity," said Costanza, who is director of the Gund Institute for Ecological Economics at the University of Vermont. "Insanity means doing the same things and expecting a different result."

more...