Lecture: Managing Without Growth. Slower by Design, Not Disaster
Economic growth
is the
over-arching policy objective of governments worldwide. Yet its long-term
viability is increasingly questioned because of
environmental impacts
and
impending and actual shortages of energy and material resources. Furthermore,
rising incomes in rich countries bear little relation to
gains in happiness and
well-being
.
Growth has not eliminated poverty, brought full employment or
protected the environment.
Results from a simulation model of the Canadian
economy suggest that it is possible to have full employment, eradicate
poverty, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and maintain fiscal balance without
economic growth. It’s time to turn our attention away from pursuing growth
and towards specific objectives more directly relating to
our well-being and
that of the planet.
$5, $4 for students, FREE for CFI members
Speaker Bio
Dr. Peter Victor , author of Managing without Growth. Slower by Design, not Disaster, is a professor in environmental studies at York University. He has worked for nearly 40 years in Canada and abroad on economy and environment as an academic, consultant and public servant. Dr. Victor was the founding president of the Canadian Society of Ecological Economics and a past-president of the Royal Canadian Institute for the Advancement of Science. Currently he is a member of the Board of the David Suzuki Foundation and several advisory boards in the public and private sectors.
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