The “Growth delusion”: the goal for a successful economy?
Although much has changed in our political discourse with the new UK Government, there is one consistent note – the centrality of growth to economic policy.
As a character in Jonathan Franzen’s novel Freedom, says, only economists think that something that grows forever is optimal. In biology, they call it cancer.”
Our political decision-making is driven by growth as framed by GDP and the size of the tax base. As trusts we have built growth assumptions into our financial models and practices, assuming year on year growth of our capital and taking active steps to preserve and grow our funds that support charitable work.
On the other hand, we as charities know the negative outcomes of economic considerations overriding social and environmental factors such as clean air or water, safe work, fair access to work or the use of scarce resources.
This session of the Economic Justice network will explore the centrality of growth to our ways of thinking, offering some current critiques and alternatives. We are delighted that we will be joined by econological economist Professor Tim Jackson, from the Centre for the Understanding of Sustainable Prosperity (CUSP) at the University of Surrey and Sarah Longlands, Chief Executive of CLES, the national organisation for local economies. Professor Jackson is an internationally prominent thought leader on alternatives to growth. CLES has pioneered Community Wealth Building, a progressive approach to building economies that work for people, planet and place. This will be an opportunity to gain new perspectives on a central tenet of how our society and political economy could develop in coming years.
Speakers:
Sarah Longlands, Chief Executive, Centre for Local Economic Strategies (CLES)
Professor Tim Jackson, Centre for the Understanding of Sustainable Prosperity (CUSP) at the University of Surrey
Date: 9 October 2024
Time: 2pm-4pm
Convenors:
Danielle Walker Palmour, director, Friends Provident Foundation
Debbie Pippard, director of Programmes, Barrow Cadbury Trust
This event will take place online. A Zoom link will be sent 48 hours before.
If you would like to discuss access requirements, please contact [email protected].