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The Path To Degrowth In Overdeveloped Countries
"The Path to Degrowth in Overdeveloped Countries", written by Erik Assadourian, is the second chapter of the Worldwatch Institute's '' State of the World'' (2012), available for free online. In his chapter of the report, Assadourian defines degrowth as an "essential and urgent" economic strategy to pursue in countries entrenched in overdevelopment (such as the United States) in order for those countries to be truly sustainable and adapt to "The rapidly warming Earth and the collapse of ecosystem services." Furthermore, he hopes to dispel "the myth that perpetual pursuit of growth is good for economies or the societies of which they are a part" for the well-being of the planet, of underdeveloped populations, and of the sick, stressed, and overweight populations of overdeveloped countries. Assadourian argues via the principle of plenitude that degrowth will inevitably occur whether we want it to or not because—on a planet of finite resources—economies and populations cannot ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Overconsumption
Overconsumption describes a situation where a consumer overuses their available goods and services to where they can't, or don't want to, replenish or reuse them. In microeconomics, this may be described as the point where the marginal cost of a consumer is greater than their marginal utility. The term overconsumption is quite controversial in use and does not necessarily have a single unifying definition. When used to refer to natural resources to the point where the environment is negatively affected, is it synonymous with the term overexploitation. However, when used in the broader economic sense, overconsumption can refer to all types of goods and services, including manmade ones, e.g. "the overconsumption of alcohol can lead to alcohol poisoning". Overconsumption is driven by several factors of the current global economy, including forces like consumerism, planned obsolescence, economic materialism, and other unsustainable business models and can be contrasted with sustaina ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2012 In The Environment
This is a list of notable events relating to the environment in 2012. They relate to environmental law, conservation, environmentalism and environmental issues. Events *A list of the world's 100 most threatened species - a compilation of the most threatened animals, plants, and fungi - was published. *The first period emission reduction commitments under the Kyoto Protocol expired at the end of 2012. A second commitment period was agreed to at the 2012 United Nations Climate Change Conference. January *Armed commandos will be ordered to protect endangered tigers in India's Bandipur and Nagarhole national parks. *The Guangxi cadmium spill contaminated the Guangxi Longjiang river and water supply. February *The Atlantic sturgeon is classified as an endangered species by the US National Marine Fisheries Service. March *Protests in Ecuador in opposition to the copper mining concessions in the province of Zamora-Chinchipe begin with a series of demonstrations by indigenous peopl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Informal Economy
An informal economy (informal sector or grey economy) is the part of any economy that is neither taxed nor monitored by any form of government. Although the informal sector makes up a significant portion of the economies in developing countries, it is sometimes stigmatized as troublesome and unmanageable. However, the informal sector provides critical economic opportunities for the poor and has been expanding rapidly since the 1960s. Integrating the informal economy into the formal sector is an important policy challenge. In many cases, unlike the formal economy, activities of the informal economy are not included in a country's gross national product (GNP) or gross domestic product (GDP). However, Italy has included estimates of informal activity in their GDP calculations since 1987, which swells their GDP by an estimated 18% and in 2014, a number of European countries formally changed their GDP calculations to include prostitution and narcotics sales in their official GDP sta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Steady State Economy
A steady-state economy is an economy made up of a constant stock of physical wealth (capital) and a constant population size. In effect, such an economy does not grow in the course of time. The term usually refers to the national economy of a particular country, but it is also applicable to the economic system of a city, a region, or the entire world. Early in the history of economic thought, classical economist Adam Smith of the 18th century developed the concept of a ''stationary state'' of an economy: Smith believed that any national economy in the world would sooner or later settle in a final state of stationarity. Since the 1970s, the concept of a steady-state economy has been associated mainly with the work of leading ecological economist Herman Daly. As Daly's concept of a ''steady-state'' includes the ecological analysis of natural resource flows through the economy, his concept differs from the original classical concept of a ''stationary state''. One other di ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sustainable Living
Sustainable living describes a lifestyle that attempts to reduce the use of Earth's natural resources by an individual or society. It is referred to as zero wastage living" or "net zero living". Its practitioners often attempt to reduce their ecological footprint (including their carbon footprint) by altering their home designs and methods of transportation, energy consumption and diet. Its proponents aim to conduct their lives in ways that are consistent with sustainability, naturally balanced, and respectful of humanity's symbiotic relationship with the Earth's natural ecology. The practice and general philosophy of ecological living closely follows the overall principles of sustainable development. One approach to sustainable living, exemplified by small-scale urban transition towns and rural ecovillages, seeks to create self-reliant communities based on principles of simple living, which maximize self-sufficiency particularly in food production. These principles, on a broade ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Post Growth
Post-growth is stance on economic growth concerning the limits-to-growth dilemma — recognition that, on a planet of finite material resources, extractive economies and populations cannot grow infinitely. The term "post-growth" acknowledges that economic growth can generate beneficial effects up to a point, but beyond that point (cited as $25,000 GDP/capita by Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett in their book '' The Spirit Level'') it is necessary to look for other indicators and techniques to increase human wellbeing. Post-growth can be distinguished from similar concepts and movements (such as degrowth and steady-state economy) in that it seeks to identify and build on what is already working, rather than focusing on what is not. Post-growth advocates try to encourage, connect and further develop already existing ideas, concepts, technologies, systems, initiatives, and actions. In this way, "post-growth" does not specify the answer to the limits-to-growth challenge, as "stead ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Degrowth
Degrowth (french: décroissance) is a term used for both a political, economic, and social movement as well as a set of theories that critique the paradigm of economic growth. It can be described as an extensive framework that is based on critiques of the growth-centered economic system in which we are living. Degrowth is based on ideas from a diverse range of lines of thought such as political ecology, ecological economics, feminist political ecology, and environmental justice, pointing out the social and ecological harm caused by the pursuit of infinite growth and Western "development" imperatives. Degrowth emphasizes the need to reduce global consumption and production (social metabolism) and advocates a socially just and ecologically sustainable society with social and environmental well-being replacing GDP as the indicator of prosperity. Hence, although GDP is likely to shrink in a "Degrowth society", i.e. a society in which the objectives of the degrowth movement are ac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prosperity Without Growth
''Prosperity Without Growth'' is a book by author and economist Tim Jackson. It was originally released as a report by the Sustainable Development Commission. The study rapidly became the most downloaded report in the Commission's nine-year history when it was published in 2009. The report was later that year reworked and published as a book by Earthscan. A revised and expanded edition (''Prosperity Without Growth: Foundations for the Economy of Tomorrow'') was published in January 2017. Description By arguing that "prosperityin any meaningful sense of the wordtranscends material concerns", the book summarizes the evidence showing that, beyond a certain point, growth does not increase human well-being. ''Prosperity without Growth'' analyses the complex relationships between economic growth, environmental crises and social recession. It proposes a route to a sustainable economy, and argues for a redefinition of "prosperity" in light of the evidence on what really contribute ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plenitude Economy
The principle of plenitude asserts that the universe contains all possible forms of existence. Arthur Lovejoy, a historian of ideas, was the first to trace the history of this philosophically important principle explicitly. Lovejoy distinguishes two versions of the principle: a static version, in which the universe displays a constant fullness and diversity, and a temporalized version, in which fullness and diversity gradually increase over time. Lovejoy traces the principle of plenitude to the writings of Plato, finding in the ''Timaeus'' an insistence on "the necessarily complete translation of all the ideal possibilities into actuality". By contrast, he takes Aristotle to reject the principle in his ''Metaphysics'', when he writes that "it is not necessary that everything that is possible should exist in actuality". Since Plato, the principle of plenitude has had the following adherents: *Epicurus reiterated the principle in fr.266 Us. His follower Lucretius (''DRN'' V 526- ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Work Sharing
Job sharing or work sharing is an employment arrangement where two people, or sometimes more, are retained on a part-time or reduced-time basis to perform a job normally fulfilled by one person working full-time. This leads to a net reduction in per-employee income. The people sharing the job work as a team to complete the job task and are jointly responsible for the job workload. Pay, holidays and working hours are apportioned between the workers. In some countries, systems such as ''pay as you go'' and PAYE help make deductions for national insurance, and superannuations are made as a straightforward percentage. History in the United States The news media began reporting in earnest on job sharing in the 1970s and 1980s. The practice was most often described as a solution tailored for women, as one Associated Press article summarized, "a compromise between fulltime housework and full-time employment". 1970s In 1972 the New Ways to Work Foundation was funded, it is a non-profit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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