Counsel for Getting There - Economics and Ecology: United for a Sustainable World - page 171

degrade the quality of life, which causes long-time residents have
less interest in volunteering and contributing to the social capital of
the community.
National Economy
Pro : A growing economy generates more jobs and thus higher ability
of individuals and families to support themselves, which increases
individual happiness and well-being. Tax collections will be higher
also, thus allowing the public sector to more easily pay for whatever
people want and still be perceived as adequate. Our international
strength and ability to defend ourselves in a dangerous world are
supposedly higher with a dynamically growing economy. Broad-
based prosperity is depicted as the result.
Con : To a point, some of these arguments may have some validity, but
it is never enough. The globalized-growth economy, augmented by
incessant technological change, seems never to create jobs where
one wants them, and never with high enough incomes. Families are
stressed when both the private and public sectors fail them not only
in bad times but also in good times by forcing both adults to work to
make their financial ends meet, thus fragmenting the family. Efforts
around the world to command resources needed to keep growing
are simultaneously destroying ecosystems and actually undermin-
ing international credibility, which makes the world a more dan-
gerous place. The most pervasive result, as we repeatedly stressed,
is the disastrous inequality that growth inevitably leads to, and
which our macroeconomics inadequately recognizes. This causes
the unfortunate “have/have not” dichotomy at all levels, from com-
munity to global, and undermines the cooperation so badly needed
in an overcrowded world.
Politics and Culture
Pro : The political system is assumed to be working well only if the
economy is healthy, which is interpreted as growing. For any politi-
cal campaign in an unhealthy economy, the economy is assumed to
be the dominant, if not the only, issue, as evidenced by Bill Clinton's
famous admonition to himself as a campaigner: “It's the economy,
stupid.” Growth is assumed to help everyone. Consequently, an
expanding economy is assumed to serve the best interests of the
middle-class and democracy. Moreover, if the economy is robust,
incumbents are accorded an easier reelection but are in trouble dur-
ing bad times.