The Progress Illusion: Reclaiming Our Future from the Fairytale of Economics

Mainstream economic thinking, with its focus on infinite growth, ignores the irreversible environmental damage caused by fossil fuels and offers only half-measures to address world poverty, according to this sobering study. To better understand the global economy’s true impact on the environment, Erickson (The Great Experiment in Conservation), a professor of sustainability science and policy at the University of Vermont, advocates for ecological economics, a “transdiscipline” that seeks “to embed the human system within the ecosystem, blurring the lines between the natural and social sciences.” He contends that mainstream economists’ faith in market mechanisms to solve climate change through technology and energy efficiency is misguided, and that “the plight of the poor” can only be alleviated “by limiting the glut of the rich.” Calling for economists and policy makers to refocus on measuring “genuine progress, well-being, and happiness,” Erickson’s specific proposals include “banning new fossil fuel infrastructure, canceling mining and drilling leases on public lands and seas, and divesting from the fossil fuel industry,” and “moving away from private ownership of cars and other durable goods.” Though the path to achieving these kinds of sweeping changes remains unclear, Erickson’s cri de coeur is bracing and coherent. Progressives should take heed. (Dec.)