I read a mini-review of a new book by Daniel Susskind on growth. I am pasting the review from the Guardian below.
While reading this review (I have not read the book yet), I was asking myself whether growth is really inevitable? If there is no growth, is it really the disaster he describes?
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Growth by Daniel Susskind
According to economics professor Daniel Susskind, from the Stone Age to the 18th century most people lived in poverty, “engaged in a relentless struggle for subsistence”. Modern economic growth only began 200 years ago: “if the sum of human history were an hour long, then this reversal in fortune took place in the last couple of seconds”. The first half of Susskind’s fascinating study examines why there was no growth for such a long time and why this “unprecedented prosperity” began so suddenly and was sustained – at least until recently.
Material prosperity has freed billions of people from the struggle for subsistence and the average human life is now both longer and healthier than ever before. This new wealth has also been used to make astonishing discoveries, like splitting the atom. But there has undoubtedly been a price to pay for this growth, including climate change, the destruction of the natural environment, and the creation of large inequalities: “growth has an irresistible promise and an unacceptable price, it is miraculous and devastating”. This “growth dilemma” and how to respond to it, is the subject of the second half of Susskind’s book. It is, he argues, the most urgent issue facing us today. But it also offers an opportunity to “create a renewed sense of collective purpose in society in pursuit of what really matters” – not just more prosperity, but a fairer society and a healthier planet.
However, in the last few decades almost all countries have “slumped” and recent global crises mean economies are now “sluggish shadows of former selves”. No country seems to have a solution for how to return to stable growth, without also threatening climate stability and social order. At the same time, politics have polarised, split between “far-left ‘degrowthers’” and “far-right national populists”. Susskind argues that to reject the pursuit of growth would result in a “catastrophe”, leading to poverty and poorer healthcare. Instead, we need to make growth less destructive, while accepting there will always be trade-offs between its “promise and its price”.
He argues passionately for the pursuit of growth at a time when its costs seem to outweigh its benefits. He highlights “the power of ideas” and their economic exploitation as the catalyst of growth, and sees this as the key to unleashing a fresh wave of prosperity, a “Second Industrial Enlightenment”. Thanks to the “innovative genius of humankind”, the resulting technological and economic renaissance will, he believes, eventually allow us to solve the problems facing the world.
This is a remarkable survey of a complex subject that is both erudite and immensely readable. Susskind’s thoughtful discussion of the issue is historical and practical, offering insights into how innovation and growth can be boosted, and it is a timely contribution to a vitally important debate.
PD Smith in The Guardian 02/04/2025
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