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Sustainability and the New Economics: Synthesising Ecological Economics and Modern Monetary Theory

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This multidisciplinary book provides new insights and hope for sustainable prosperity given recent developments in economics – but only if swift and strong actions consistent with Earth’s biophysical limits and principles of justice are universally taken.

 

It is one thing to put limits on resource throughput and waste generation to conform with the ecosphere’s biocapacity. It is another thing to efficiently allocate a sustainable rate of resource throughput and ensure it is equitably distributed in the form of final goods and services. While the separate but interdependent decisions regarding throughput, distribution, and allocation are the essence of ecological economics, dealing with them in a world that needs to cure its growth addiction requires a realistic understanding of macroeconomics and the fiscal capacity of currency-issuing central governments. Sustainable prosperity demands that we harness this understanding to carefully regulate the rate of resource throughput and manipulate macroeconomic outcomes to facilitate human flourishing.

 

The book begins by outlining humanity’s current predicament of gross ecological overshoot and laments the half-century of missed opportunities since The Limits to Growth (1972). What was once economic growth has become, in many high-income countries, uneconomic growth (additional costs exceeding additional benefits), which is no longer advancing wellbeing. Meanwhile, low-income nations need a dose of efficient and equitable growth to escape poverty while protecting their environments and the global commons.

 

The book argues for a synthesis of our increasing knowledge of the ecosphere’s limited carrying capacity and the power of governments to harness, transform, and distribute resources for the common good. Central to this synthesis must be a correct understanding of the difference between financial constraints and real resource constraints. While the latter apply to everyone, the former do not apply to currency-issuing central governments, which have much more capacity for corrective action than mainstream thinking perceives.

 

The book joins the growing chorus of authoritative voices calling for a complete overhaul of the dominant economic system. We conclude with policy recommendations based on a new economics that, if implemented, would come close to guaranteeing a sustainable and prosperous future.

 

Upon reading this book, at least one thing should be crystal clear: business as usual is not a viable option.

Author(s): Stephen J. Williams, Rod Taylor
Publisher: Springer
Year: 2021

Language: English
Pages: 352
City: Cham

Preface
Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction
References
Part I: The Current Mess
Chapter 2: The Earth System, the Great Acceleration and the Anthropocene
2.1 What Is the Earth System?
2.2 The Great Acceleration
2.3 The Anthropocene
2.4 Climate Change
2.5 Planetary Boundaries
2.6 Future Trajectories of the Earth System
References
Chapter 3: Australia’s Natural Environment: A Warning for the World
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Australia: An Historical Perspective
3.3 Australia: Current Perspective
3.4 Drivers of Environmental Change
3.5 Human Overpopulation
3.6 Terrestrial Environments
3.7 Freshwater and Marine Environments
3.8 Ecological Sustainability – Is It Possible?
3.9 Conclusions
References
Chapter 4: Climate Change and Human Health
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Climate Change, the Anthropocene, and Human Development
4.3 Coal, Air Pollution and Health in Australia
4.4 Climate Change and Health
4.4.1 Classifying the Health Effects of Climate Change, Including Mental Health
4.5 Conclusion
References
Chapter 5: How Sustainable Are the UN Sustainable Development Goals?
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Development Based on Growth and Debt, 1980–2015
5.3 SDGs Retain the Growth Strategy
5.4 SDG2: ‘Safe, Nutritious and Sufficient Food’
5.5 SDG11, SDG9: Urban Development, Infrastructure and Industry
5.6 SDG12: Sustainable Production and Consumption
5.7 SDG8: ‘Sustainable Economic Growth’?
5.8 Problems of Population and Affluence
5.9 Conclusion
References
Part II: How We Got Here
Chapter 6: The Evolution of Neoliberalism
6.1 Introduction
6.2 What is Neoliberalism?
6.3 The Rise of Neoliberalism in the 1970s
6.4 Hard Neoliberalism
6.5 Soft Neoliberalism
6.6 The Crises of the Twenty-First Century
6.7 Political Implications
6.8 Concluding Comments: The Way Forward
References
Chapter 7: Population Growth
7.1 Introduction
7.2 Expanding the Resource Base
7.3 Early Environmental Concerns
7.4 The Global Problem
7.5 Population or Consumption?
7.6 Climate Change as ‘The Great Educator’?
7.7 Australian Environmental Organisations
7.8 The Harsh Reality of 2020 Meets Delusions of Limitless Futures
References
Chapter 8: A Brief History of The Limits to Growth Debate
8.1 Introduction
8.2 The Club of Rome and The Limits to Growth
8.3 Reactions from Economics and Science
8.4 Attack from Activist Economists
8.5 New Approaches to Limits
8.6 Assessments of The Limits to Growth vs. Real World Outcomes
8.7 Conclusion
References
Chapter 9: The Role of the Fossil Fuel Industry
9.1 Fossil Fuels: The Foundation of Exponential Population and Economic Growth
9.2 Global Fossil Fuel Evolution
9.3 Australian Fossil Fuel Evolution
9.4 Power and Political Influence
9.5 The Climate Change Nemesis
9.6 Corrupting the Market
9.7 The Australian Response: Ratcheting Climate Ambition Ever Downwards
9.8 From Hard to Soft Denial
9.9 Conclusion: Facing the Climate Emergency
References
Chapter 10: Economic Failures of the IPCC Process
10.1 Introduction
10.2 Nobel Oblige
10.3 The Scientific Assessment
10.3.1 Reading Catastrophe and Seeing Utopia
10.3.2 Drowning Scientists with Economists
10.3.3 Equating Climate with Weather
10.3.4 Equating Time with Space
10.3.5 Trivial Estimates of Serious Damages
10.4 The Failure of Peer Review
10.5 Conclusion
References
Part III: Designing a Safe and Prosperous Future
Chapter 11: An Introduction to Ecological Economics: Principles, Indicators, and Policy
11.1 Introduction
11.2 Principles of Ecological Economics
11.3 Principles in More Detail
11.3.1 The Economy is Embedded in Society, and Society is Embedded in the Biophysical World
11.3.2 The Purpose of the Economy is to Maximise Collective Wellbeing
11.3.3 Other Aspects of Wellbeing
11.3.3.1 Natural Capital (Natural Wealth)
11.3.3.2 Population Size
11.3.3.3 Health and Education
11.3.3.4 Human-Made Capital (Human-Made Wealth)
11.3.3.5 Trophic Diversity
11.3.3.6 Law and Governance
11.3.3.7 Shuffling Financial Assets (Virtual Wealth) Does Not Equate to Generating Real Wealth
11.3.3.8 International Relations
11.3.4 Sustainability, Distribution, and Allocation
11.3.5 Nations Should Strive for Maximum Self-Sufficiency
11.3.6 Internationalisation and Globalisation
11.3.7 Thermodynamics, Biocapacity and Throughput
11.3.8 Global Resource Throughput Should be Less Than the Planet’s Biophysical Capacity
11.3.9 Continuous Absolute Decoupling is a Dangerous Myth
11.3.10 The Optimal Size of an Economy is Where Net Benefits are Maximised
11.3.11 Some Countries Will Need to Implement Degrowth Policies
11.3.12 Population Size Matters
11.3.13 Humankind Needs to Respect the Ecological Limits of the Planet or Face Collapse
11.4 Conclusion
References
Chapter 12: Energy Systems for Sustainable Prosperity
12.1 Introduction
12.2 Global Strategy for Cutting GHG Emissions from Energy
12.3 Energy Efficiency and Conservation
12.3.1 Distinguishing Conservation from Efficiency
12.3.2 Energy Conversion Efficiency
12.3.3 Rebound
12.4 Renewable Energy: Current Status
12.5 Real Barriers and Myths
12.5.1 Vested Interests Are Resisting the Transition
12.5.2 The Base-Load Myth
12.5.3 The EROI Myth
12.5.4 Consumption—The Real Problem
12.6 Discussion and Conclusion
References
Chapter 13: Climate Change Litigation and Human Rights
13.1 Introduction
13.2 Climate Change Litigation
13.2.1 Obstacles
13.2.2 Climate Change Litigation in Australia: The Rocky Hill Decision
13.3 International Law, Human Rights and Public Decision-Making
13.3.1 International Law and Climate Change
13.3.2 The Influence of International Law on Domestic Decision-Making
13.3.3 International Law in Australian Litigation
13.4 Corporations and Climate Change: Holding Emitters Accountable
13.4.1 Tortious Actions
13.4.2 Corporations Law: Financial Disclosure
13.4.3 Corporations Law: Directors’ Duties
13.5 Conclusion
Chapter 14: Paying for a Green New Deal: An Introduction to Modern Monetary Theory
14.1 Introduction
14.2 Mainstream Macroeconomics in a Nutshell
14.3 The MMT Paradigm Shift
14.4 The Role of Private Banks
14.5 The National Government’s Budget
14.6 Government Deficits and Debt
14.7 What a Prudent Monetary-Sovereign Government Should Do
14.8 A Government Job Guarantee Scheme
14.9 Paying for a Green New Deal
References
Chapter 15: Conclusion and Policy Options
15.1 Herman Daly’s Policies
15.2 United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
15.3 Alliance of World Scientists
15.4 Other Policy Priorities Worth Considering
15.4.1 General
15.4.2 Agriculture-Forestry
15.4.3 Corporations
15.4.4 Education
15.4.5 Energy
15.4.6 Governance
15.4.7 Mining
15.4.8 Trade
References
Appendices
Appendix 1: Timeline of Key Events from the Big Bang
Appendix 2: Glossary of Financial Terms
Appendix 3: Glossary of General Economic Terms
Appendix 4