The growth illusion lies at the core of an economic system built around competition rather than co-operation. It is accepted without question that infinite growth is possible while reliant on finite resources within a finite system. This not only sounds ambitious, but logically impossible. ‘Growth, growth, growth’ has become the modern mantra for our business leaders and politicians, the goal to which everything else is subordinated. However, we rarely stop to question the logic behind this fixation. Our economic indicators, like Gross Domestic Product (GDP), are merely measuring the speed at which we are turning resources into rubbish, while every divorce, accident and hospital bill adds to the figure for national prosperity. In the wake of the Exxon Valdez oil spill for example, the local economy boomed.
Surely, by seeing a man who consumes more as being better off than a man who consumes less, we are making an irrational assumption? As the economist Herman Daly first pointed out, a ‘growing’ economy is only getting bigger, while a ‘developing’ economy is getting better. Is it not time to accept this distinction? As Daly suggests, rather than an obsession with growth, should we not pay more attention to development? Rather than doing our national accounts with a calculator which has no minus sign - increasing GDP every time we drive a car rather than ride a bicycle, turn on the AC rather than open a window - should we not integrate new economic indicators which more accurately reflect the true definition of ‘efficiency’ and ‘quality of life’ rather than plain ‘productivity’ and rates of consumption?