Library

Scientific paper • 2014

‘Expand or die’. The historical foundations of the economic growth paradigm

Abstract: ‘Economic growth’ is widely regarded as a key goal of economic policy, not only across the political spectrum but also in all countries. How did the pursuit of growth become the essential goal of policy-making and a key priority taken for granted among social scientists, politicians, and the general public? This contribution to the special session "Degrowth and History" takes up this...

Scientific paper • 2014

Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE) as a transitional path towards a degrowth society

By: Mònica Serlavós

Abstract: In the current context of multidimensional crises, this paper aims to evaluate the potential of Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE) as a transitional path towards a degrowth society. This research is motivated by the urgent need to find alternative ways to build a fairer and more responsible society in harmony with Nature. While recognizing the limitations of the Geneva case developed...

Scientific paper • 2014

The relationship between intragenerational and intergenerational justice in the use of ecosystems and their services

By: Stefanie Sievers-Glotzbach, Stefan Baumgärtner, Martin Quaas

Abstract: Most scientific research on a “degrowth-economy” is motivated by finding pathways to build a just society, in terms of both intragenerational justice and intergenerational justice. As conflicts in attaining the two justices (may) arise in the design and implementation of sustainability policy, the relationship between the objectives of intragenerational and intergenerational justice...

Scientific paper • 2014

Is Profit-Making Compatible with the Principles of a Steady-State Economy?

By: Daniel O'Neill, Gabriel Trettel Silva

Profit; capitalism; steady-state economy; social enterprises

Scientific paper • 2014

The economics of slow growth

By: Sjak Smulders

Abstract: We document two stylized facts. First, most periods in history have been characterized by per capita GDP growth that was an order of magnitude slower than modern growth in the “old world”. Second, most countries with capitalists institutions have grown steadily and relatively fast. This presents us with a puzzle: does the recent growth slowdown in the capitalist old world mean that...

Scientific paper • 2014

Ethical implications of efficiency in climate economics

By: Ida Andrea Braathen Sognnaes

Abstract: Global climate change brings up fundamental questions related to intragenerational and intergenerational equity. Economists have traditionally drawn a sharp distinction between efficiency and equity, but more recent studies in ecological economics have argued that the two are intimately linked (Corbera, Brown, & Adger, 2007; Howarth & Norgaard, 1992; Muradian, Corbera,...

Scientific paper • 2014

Degrowth, the financial system and the pension system

By: Joachim H. Spangenberg

Abstract: It has been argued that degrowth would lead to a catastrophic economic collapse triggered by a collapse of stock exchange values. However, this analysis rests on several flawed assumptions: (i) an outdated view on stock market mechanisms and values (ii) the assumption that the stock market mechanisms would remain unchanged in a degrowth economy (iii) unchanged expectations of benefits...

Scientific paper • 2014

Economic Growth and Normative Innovations

By: Mateusz Stachura

Abstract: In the prevalent view competition in saturated markets leads to a race-to-the-bottom, i.e. to a social, sociopolitical and ecological deregulation since competitive advantages are only viable by cost reductions due to the depletion of standards. In the present research project a contrary position is theoretically claimed and empirically tested. The main proposition is that low growth...

Scientific paper • 2014

Labour in Germany

By: Volker Stöckel

Abstract: Here it is a special view to the relationship from three of the core-values of the german economy – the waged work volume (labour), the gross domestic (GDP) product and the stock of fixed assets (capital or curdled labour). The relationship on the scale of things, aggregated in the alpha of the Cobb-Douglas-Function over the time, shows a developement over the last 40 years and there...

Scientific paper • 2014

Long-lasting low growth scenario: The case study Austria

By: Andrea Stocker

Abstract: The paper is motivated by the assumption that low economic growth rates could be the normal case and not the exception in developed economies in the near and also in the far future. Several reasons imply limits on economic scale and thus limits to growth, e.g. resource scarcities, commodity price shocks, instability of financial markets, government debts, a decline in consumer...

Scientific paper • 2014

The concept limitations to ecosystem services valuation

By: Marta Szkaradkiewicz, Jan Kazak, Szymon Szewranski

Abstract: The concept of ecosystem services has recently gained relatively a lot attention in the academic debates. The concept is derived from the ecological economics discipline. Thus it combines ecological implications and economic approach. The ecosystem services may be perceived as a different approach to the notion of natural capital which is one of the capitals sustainable development...

Scientific paper • 2014

The Dawn of Modern Era: Montaigne and Spinoza as Alternatives to Cartesian Weltanschauung.

By: Pier Luigi Tosi

Abstract: Mechanism is at the origin of the actual economical conception, based on endless growth. It is founded on Descartes's thought, with its strong distinction between mind and material world, continued by Bacon and Newton (as Latouche points out). Some years before and some years after Descartes, Montaigne and Spinoza respectively proposed significantly different conceptions. The French...

Scientific paper • 2014

Adam Smith's

By: Till Wagner

invisible hand, growth, degrowth

Scientific paper • 2014

An interdisciplinary understanding of macro rebound effects

By: Hans Jakob Walnum

Rebound effects, critical realism, Interdisciplinary, socio technological structures

Scientific paper • 2014

100% Money and Vollgeld, no Solution for a Stationary Economy

By: Benedikt Weihmayr

Abstract: In the post-growth debate a rising number of authors advocate for monetary reforms, which intention is to prevent banks from deposit creation and establishes the central bank as the sole issuer of money. This paper examines the expected macroeconomic consequences and reviews the proclaimed benefits. In the analysis, I consider especially the assertions of authors, who argue that such...

Scientific paper • 2014

(Re)Productivity in a Perspective of Material Feminism

By: Carla Wember, Suse Brettin

Abstract: In order to strive towards a more sustainable society, it is important to reconsider the relationships between culture (thus economy) and nature which implies questioning powerful dichotomization and hierarchization that are structuring western societies. The idea of nature as a mere resource for the exploits of mankind has led to crisis-laden phenomena as well as the naturalized...

Scientific paper • 2014

Neoclassical, post-Keynesian and neo-Marxian perspectives on degrowth

By: Steffen Lange

Abstract: The question, how an economy can be organized without growth has received little attention from many strands of macroeconomics. In this paper I investigate this question, from the point of view of three prominent strands of macroeconomic theories: neoclassical, post-Keynesian and neo-Marxian approaches. The view of neoclassical theories is, that we need a different technological...

Scientific paper • 2014

Degrowth and Demonetization: On the Limits of a Non-Capitalist Market Economy

By: Andreas Exner

From the text: “This [what degrowth scholars describe] is a non- capitalist market economy model of degrowth, the viability of which shall be discussed further on in three steps. First, I contrast with reciprocity the historical specificity of exchange, markets, and money in the modern sense. Second, I discuss the logical connection between market, money, and capital. Third, I analyze the...

Scientific paper • 2014

Degrowth: A Vocabulary for a New Era

By: Federico Demaria, Giacomo D’Alisa, Giorgos Kallis (ed.)

Anti-utilitarianism, Bio-economics, Environmental Justice, Simplicity, Conviviality, Autonomy, Care, Commons, Dépense

Interview • 2014

Degrowth: Leben und Wirtschaften jenseits des Wachstums (Teil 1)

By: Kontext TV

Quelle: www.kontext-tv.de   Gäste: Naomi Klein, Journalistin und Buchautorin ("No Logo", "Die Schock-Strategie", "This Changes Everything") Barbara Muraca, Philosophin an der Universität Jena, Autorin des Buches "Gut Leben. Eine Gesellschaft jenseits des Wachstums" Nnimmo Bassey, Vorstand von Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria, Träger des "Alternativen...