Is the global human population too high? Steady-state people as well as steady-state economics?
There is a long-standing case made for the benefits of a steady-state economy. With climate change, collapsing biodiversity and increasing pressure on key resources, that has to be the way to go. Read more
Are we ‘silenced by economic power’? Paris 2015 and the Hartwell Paper
In December 2011, South Africa welcomed the United Nations Framing Convention on Climate Change. The host city was Durban, where a number of years before, and just after his release from prison, Nelson Mandela had Read more
Tim Harford – the ‘Undercover Economist’ – thinks that the economy can grow forever. Here’s why he’s wrong
Here’s an article that I came across recently. It was written by Tim Harford, the ‘Undercover Economist’, who points out that physicists are telling economists that economic growth can’t continue forever because of the exponential function Read more
BBC: ‘Only by increasing productivity can we improve the quality of our lives’. Do you agree?
It’s a quote from an economist invited in to comment about the UK economy on the BBC World Service earlier this week (it doesn’t matter who – this is a point that virtually all economists agree on, to the shame of the discipline). Read more
The top ten economic growth myths
Are you tired of the lazy assumption on Newsnight, the Today programme and in the news media that economic growth is what’s required to solve all of our problems? It’s the Holy Grail, that-which-cannot-be-questioned, from Evan Davies to Jeremy Paxman. Read more
Our award for most misleading and mendacious article of 2013 goes to MoneyWeek’s ‘End of Britain’
You may have seen a sensationalist video called ‘the End of Britain’ that’s been doing the rounds throughout 2013. It’s a flashy, authoritative-looking video, and well it should be, as it’s produced by MoneyWeek Magazine Read more
Can multinational corporations ever be green?
This is my response to a marketing lady I met at the Royal Festival Hall last week, who will remain anonymous (unless you want to reveal yourself). You are very intelligent, and you care – our target audience, in other words. Read more