On 26 June 2026, the Financial Times ran a piece titled “The shrinking arguments for degrowth.” Written by John Burn-Murdoch, the FT’s chief data reporter, the column argues that “the idea that economic growth is a barrier to achieving better outcomes is at best outdated, in many cases a misreading of the data.” He builds his case […]
Tag: economic growth
Is decoupling happening, yes, or no? And if not, could it ever happen? Over the course of a few weeks, The Guardian published several pieces on the topic that may appear contradictory, arguing both that “economic growth [is] no longer linked to carbon emissions” and that “economic growth is still heating up the planet.”[1] This is perfect timing because […]
On February 23rd, 2024, the New York-based socialist magazine Jacobin published “4 problems for the degrowth movement,” a short piece written by Daniel Driscoll, a social science researcher at Brown University. Like all the previous Jacobin articles touching on the topic[1], this one is firmly against degrowth. On social media, the article has been intensely bashed. “Pure ideological blinkers” (Julia […]
I often complain about texts critical of degrowth being short. And they mostly are. The average degrowth detractor only affords a few paragraphs, often copiously sprinkled with conceptual slur. Collapse-porn addicts, Malthusian maniacs, prophets of climate despair, civilisation-haters, dirty hippies; closer to a rap battle than to an academic dialogue. Imagine my joy when I […]
I must confess: I spend way too much time reading criticisms of degrowth. While there is plenty to go around (here is a list for fellow aficionados of conceptual brawl), it is – unfortunately – rare to stumble upon a constructive critique. But every now and then, something shiny ends up in my sieve, like the […]