Growth: A History and a Reckoning

Economic growth is a double-edged sword, according to this thought-provoking treatise. King’s College London economist Susskind (A World Without Work) suggests that world history was characterized by poverty and stagnation before an Enlightenment-era cultural shift toward “reason... over superstition” saw the application of the scientific method to such problems as increasing factory output, creating unprecedented economic expansion with the arrival of the Industrial Revolution. Ever since, growing the economy has become the obsession of governments eager to wash away political antagonisms in a tide of prosperity, Susskind contends, arguing that this blinkered focus on increasing GDP has produced toxic downsides too glaring to ignore, environmental destruction and inequality primary among them. While Susskind rejects the “degrowth” movement (he posits that the rapid adoption of solar panels shows how certain forms of growth can be a net good), he recommends convening assemblies of randomly selected citizens to propose ways to balance economic boosterism against social and environmental objectives, such as deciding how much to curb foreign competition for the benefit of domestic workers. The high-level discussions evaluating the merits of economists Paul Romer’s and Joel Mokyr’s theories about the origins of human prosperity can be dense, but the discerning analysis is worth the effort. This brings clarity to a pressing and intractable quandary. (Apr.)