The post-growth movement says GDP is the wrong way to measure progress and we need a radical economic rewiring

“It is bad economics and it is also anti-scientific,” says Jason Hickel, the author of Less Is More. “People need to understand that ‘growth’ is not the same as social progress.”

Hickel is one of the leading lights in a growing post-growth or degrowth movement. Its proponents argue that economic success cannot be measured through the crude metric of gross domestic product (GDP) and that there needs to be a managed reduction in growth in carbon-intensive countries and industries.

“Growth simply means an increase in aggregate production, as measured in market prices,” says Hickel. “So, according to GDP growth, producing £1m worth of teargas is considered exactly the same as producing £1m worth of affordable housing or healthcare.”

Hickel says that what matters in terms of social progress is not aggregate production but the production of specific goods and services that are necessary for improving people’s lives and achieving ecological goals – and a reduction in overall growth in high-emitting sectors and countries.

“Every time a politician says they want more economic growth, we need to ask: growth of what and for whose benefit?”

  • explodicle@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    0·
    2 months ago

    GDP is a great example of Goodhart’s Law. In the early 20th century it made sense to associate high GDP countries with a higher standard of living. So it seemed reasonable to prioritize GDP by discouraging savings and encouraging investment.

    Now we’ve got a super high GDP, but real pay has stagnated and inequality has spiraled out of control.

    So how do we inform everyone that we’ve bet the world economy on an incorrect assumption? There are a lot of people whose jobs depend on encouraging consumption, and even more whose egos depend on being right about it. People (ironically) went into debt to get degrees telling them high GDP was a good idea.

  • nondescripthandle@lemmy.dbzer0.com
    0·
    2 months ago

    Capitalism so obsessed with growth they have to call shrinking ‘degrowth’ to not scare the investors into crashing the entire economy. What a stable system we’ve inherited.

    • NarrativeBear@lemmy.world
      0·
      2 months ago

      GDP (gross domestic product) has always been a poor metric IMO. It prioritizes a never ending upwards trend to increase productivity and “produce more”, all while assuming infinite resource’s.

      There needs to be a new metric that also takes into account the planet and sustainably. We dont have infinite resource’s and at some point GDP will go off a cliff.

      For example you can’t just cut down 100 acears today, and in a effort to increase GDP cut down 200 acres tomorrow. At somepoint you will run out, and your GDP metric will fail.

      A sustainable business that produces a steady flow while maintaining a steady supply should be the gold standard. A sustainable circular industry.

      Long term vs short term thinking/profits.

      Disclaimer: All things stated are my opinions and by all means I am not a expert. I am a ape.