The Steady State Economy and the Mission of the U'S' Fish and Wildlife Service

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Economic De-Growth Toward an Optimal Steady State
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Basic Alternatives

• Economic growth
• Steady state economy
• Economic de-growth

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Economic De-Growth

• Decreasing production and consumption of goods
  and services
• Decreasing
• population
• per capita production and consumption
• throughput
• Indicated by decreasing real GDP

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Steady State Economy

• Stabilized production and consumption of goods
  and services
• Stabilized
• population
• per capita production and consumption
• throughput
• Indicated by stabilized real GDP

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Key Questions

• What are the economic possibilities?
• What is the optimum scale?
• What is feasible to advocate, politically?

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Economic Possibilities

• Natural
• Energy
• Natural capital
• Ecological services
• Social
• Technology
• Psychology
• Institutions

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Economic Possibilities

• Natural
• Energy
• Natural capital
• Ecological services
• Social
• Technology
• Psychology
• Institutions

Limiting Factor
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Key Dip
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Key Questions

• What are the economic possibilities?
• What is the optimum scale?
• What is feasible to advocate, politically?

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Optimum Scale
Daly and Farley 2003
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Determinants of the Optimum

• Cannot be identified with prices
• True challenge for the polity
• Muddling toward the optimum
• Some metrics helpful
• Knowledge of trade-offs key

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For example
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Optimization Metrics

• Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare
• Genuine Progress Indicator
• Human Development Index
• Measure of Economic Welfare
• Sustainable National Income

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Compliments of R. Costanza, Gund Institute for
Ecological Economics
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Key Questions

• What are the economic possibilities?
• What is the optimum scale?
• What is politically feasible to advocate?

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Political Context

• Peak Oil
• Middle East crisis
• Global warming
• Anti-Americanism
• Crumbling confidence in the conventional

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Political Feasibility
Economic Growth
Feasibility
Time, coming decades
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Political Feasibility
Economic Growth
Feasibility
De-Growth
Time, coming decades
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Political Feasibility
Economic Growth
Feasibility
Steady State
De-Growth
Time, coming decades
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Conclusions

• Same rationale for de-growth and steady state
  economy.
• De-growth forever?
• De-growth the means to optimal steady state
  economy.
• Steady state increases political viability.