This Pioneering Economist Says Obsession With Growth Must End

Growth is the ultimate source of all mainstream economic and political thought. Without a continually rising G.D.P., we’re told, we risk social instability, declining standards of living and pretty much any hope of progress. But what about the possibility that our current obsession with growth, which is so ferocious and causes such immense ecological harm, may be causing more damage than it is worth? That possibility — that prioritizing growth is ultimately a losing game — is one that the lauded economist Herman Daly Explored for over 50 years.