The End of Growth

Adapting to Our New Economic Reality

Richard Heinberg

• Publisher: Clairview Books
• Year: 2012
• Print ISBN: 9781905570331
• eBook ISBN: 9781905570515
• Topic: Economics
• Subtopic: Sustainable Development
• Index: Economics

Economists insist that recovery is at hand, yet unemployment remains high, real estate values continue to drop, and governments stagger under record deficits. The End of Growth proposes a startling diagnosis: humanity has reached a fundamental turning point in its economic history. The expansionary trajectory of industrial civilization is colliding with non-negotiable, natural limits.Richard Heinberg's latest landmark work goes to the heart of the ongoing financial crisis, explaining how and why it occurred, and what we must do to avert the worst potential outcomes. Written in an engaging, highly readable style, it shows why growth is being blocked by three factors: Resource depletion; Environmental impacts, and; Crushing levels of debt.These converging limits will force us to re-evaluate cherished economic theories, and to reinvent money and commerce.The End of Growth describes what policy makers, communities and families can do to build a new economy that operates within Earth's budget of energy and resources. We can thrive during the transition if we set goals that promote human and environmental well-being, rather than continuing to pursue the now-unattainable prize of ever-expanding Gross Domestic Product.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Dedication
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction: The New Normal
• 1. The Great Balloon Race
• 2. The Sound of Air Escaping
• 3. Earth's Limits: Why Growth Won't Return
• 4. Won't Innovation, Substitution, and Efficiency Keep Us Growing?
• 5. Shrinking Pie: Competition and Relative Growth in a Finite World
• 6. Managing Contraction, Redefining Progress
• 7. Life After Growth
• Notes
• About the Author