Hi David, On Jan 9, 2013, at 8:29 PM, David R. Block <[email protected]> wrote:
> Growth kind of has to happen as long as the birth rate exceeds the death > rate. Absolutely. Though, that's only going to be true for another 30 years, or possibly less -- after that world population will decline. Which is a huge issue nobody much seems to be talking about. Still, the question is *how* to measure that growth. GDP is a useful but imperfect metric. http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/30/alternatives-to-the-gdp/ Unfortunately, most alternatives tend towards the Green/anti-growth spectrum: 5 Economic Alternatives to the Cult of GDP : TreeHugger Here's some more thoughtful alternatives: http://www.consultmcgregor.com/documents/resources/GDP_and_GPI.pdf This problem is related to the Clothesline Paradox that geeks have been talking about recently: The Clothesline Paradox and the Sharing Economy (pdf with notes) This seems like a difficult but solvable problem, and one that might even gain political momentum in the next decade. -- Ernie P. -- Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community <[email protected]> Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org
