POLICIES FOR GREEN GROWTH VERSUS POLICIES FOR NO GROWTH: A Matter of Timing

Richard Lipsey ()

Discussion Papers from Department of Economics, Simon Fraser University

Abstract: Advocates of green-growth policies and those who advocate policies to stop growth both accept that the world faces serious environmental problems. They disagree on and debate about appropriate remedies. Green-growth advocates argue that it is possible to create a green economy compatible with sustained growth. The no-growth advocates argue that the whole growth process must be stopped if the planet is to be saved from catastrophe. This short paper argues that choosing the optimal policy for dealing with these serious problems does not require deciding which group is right. Instead it is argued that the optimal policy is to act as if the green-growth advocates are right and only if they are proved wrong by the failure of their policies to do the job, should no-growth policies be attempted.

Keywords: climate change; green growth; no-growth policies; environmental policies; carbon pricing. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q28 Q38 Q48 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 8
Date: 2016-04
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ene, nep-env, nep-gro, nep-hme and nep-pke
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sfu.ca/repec-econ/sfu/sfudps/dp16-05.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sfu:sfudps:dp16-05

Ordering information: This working paper can be ordered from

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Discussion Papers from Department of Economics, Simon Fraser University Department of Economics, Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, BC, V5A 1S6, Canada. Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Working Paper Coordinator ().