Introduction

Wim Naudé

Chapter Chapter 1 in Economic Growth and Societal Collapse, 2023, pp 1-21 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract This chapter describes just how thin and precious life, and human civilization, is. It poses the questions that this book explores: has the world economy ecologically overshot planetary systems critical to our survival? What does this mean for the future trajectory of society? How can we best fix it—by stopping and reversing overshoot through technology (Green Growth) or by purposefully reducing the size of the economy (Degrowth)? Or is it best to prepare for societal collapse and a possible rebound, a phase-transition, afterwards? Is societal collapse a feature, and not a bug, of the long-run evolution of complex systems such as civilization? The chapter furthermore explains the key concepts in this book: gross domestic product (GDP), economic growth, and ecological overshoot, and describes the structure of the book.

Keywords: GDP; Economic growth; Ecological overshoot; Planetary boundaries (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:sprchp:978-3-031-45582-7_1

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DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-45582-7_1

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