Do We Need Economic Growth?
Can we have prosperity without economic growth and are limits to growth a good idea?
The Real Story · BBC World Service
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Show Notes
Donald Trump has said his proposed tax cuts will be 'rocket fuel' for the US economy. He is the latest in a long line of political leaders chasing economic growth as a key policy objective. We are told again and again that GDP - Gross Domestic Product - growth is good for the economy; it lifts people out of poverty, provides jobs and investment, and improves lives. While there is general agreement about the need for growth in the developing world, what about the costs of growth in the rich world? Is growth accelerating environmental damage? Is it causing greater inequality?
Owen Bennett Jones is joined by Tim Jackson from the Centre for Sustainable Prosperity, University of Surrey; Daniel Ben Ami - author of Ferraris for All: In defence of Economic Progress; Jared Bernstein, economic adviser to President Barack Obama; and Annie Quick of the New Economics Foundation, to discuss who really benefits from growth and whether we can have prosperity without it.
(Photo: The bronze bull statue near Wall Street in lower Manhattan by Chris Hondros/Getty Images)