
Summary
Over the past two centuries, economic growth has freed billions from poverty and made our lives far healthier and longer. As a result, the unfettered pursuit of growth defines economic life around the world. Yet this prosperity has come at an enormous price: deepening inequalities, destabilizing technologies, environmental destruction and climate change.
Confusion reigns. For many, in our era of anaemic economic progress, the worry is slowing growth – in the UK, Europe, China and elsewhere. Others understandably claim, given its costs, that the only way forward is through ‘degrowth’, deliberating shrinking our economies.