One thing the Democrats and Republicans will agree on in the current U.S. presidential campaign is that economic growth is our number one goal and is the basic solution to all problems. The idea that growth could conceivably cost more than it is worth at the margin, and therefore become uneconomic in the literal sense, will not be considered. But, aside from political denial, why do people (frequently economists) not understand that continuous growth of the economy could in theory, and probably has in fact, become uneconomic? What is it that confuses them? Here are eight likely reasons for confusion. One can nearly always find something whose growth would be … Continue reading Herman Daly