What happens to the world when economic growth is no longer possible?

[Drukk]

I keep reading how the world economies need to be constantly growing to keep everything from collapsing but what happens when the planet can no longer sustain this constant increase on its resources?

The human population can't keep growing forever, there just is n't the room, so what happens when we outgrow the planet and when is this likely to happen?

 

[ntg]

Yes it can continue to grow forever. Some grow, some decline to make room for other and that's how it goes.

 

[TheCenturion]

Not sure about the answer to your question, but it's relative to the population. If the population continues to grow at the current rate, then it will happen quite soon, as in thousands of years I think. People: have only one child

 

[edscdk]

I was wondering the same thing, I suspect massive economic colapse and ww3...

 

[Jokester]

Global society/civilisation will collapse and we will enter a new dark age.

 

[Stretch]

I don't see it ever happening. Resources are limited but technology isn't.

 

[Tefal]

The human population can't keep growing forever, there just is n't the room, so what happens when we outgrow the planet and when is this likely to happen?

Wait until night time, look up and pick a direction.

Not sure about the answer to your question, but it's relative to the population. If the population continues to grow at the current rate, then it will happen quite soon, as in thousands of years I think. People: have only one child

But it's not the highly consumptive developed nations growing rapidly, it's the third world place. They consume much less and when push comes to shove will be unable to afford resources from the developed nations and die off quite quickly.

 

[Squark]

Wait until night time, look up and pick a direction.

Moon base Alpha!

 

[Castiel]

Wait until night time, look up and pick a direction.

Quite true. All that limits space exploration and exploitation is investment and technology. As the resources become every more scarce, the cost and level of investment will decrease and increase respectively.

Either that, or we will experience a collapse in civilisation or an interregnum period much the same as happens periodically anyway.

 

[Moley]

Global society/civilisation will collapse and we will enter a new dark age.

I for one welcome our dark age overlords.

 

[Dj_Jestar]

Currency represents value, and that value is a finite amount. Some will get rich, while others will get poor. There is no continuous growth, only a shift in balance.

 

[naknakkus]

Maybe, but the recent trend has been for continual growth in both revenue and population. So long as nothing catastrophic happens, we'll expand and expand.

Even with a post-scarcity ecomony there will be opportunities for growth.

 

[Dinomania]

Economics is a sketchy 'science' at best.

Growth is supposed to be vital - but as you say, can it grow on forever? Economists are always at odds with each other too as you can explain and predict things in any number of ways..

 

[Cosimo]

We’ll all be wearing bits of animal skins running around saying ugh ugh.

 

[PhillyDee]

Its a fallacy. As said before, resources are finite.

Technology might be infinite, but requires the finite resources we have. Infinity divided by finite is as close to zero as you can get....

Never ending economic growth is a fallacy. As roven in the events of the last couple of years. This will happen on larger and larger scales.

 

[scorza]

Interesting question, I'm reading a book at the moment that is attempting to demonstrate that economic growth is no longer benefiting ordinary people in the developed world (while acknowledging that economic growth is vital to ordinary people in the developing world). In fact economic growth is now acting against the interests of ordinary people like you or me as is only serving to increase inequality and with it negative social consequences like violence, obesity, anxiety. The challenge is to find a new system that replaces the old economic growth model that serves the interests of developed countries.

For anyone interested, the book is called The Spirit Level: Why More Equal Societies Almost Always Do Better.

 

[naknakkus]

Brilliant book. I think everyone should read it. Polarisation of wealth is one of the worst things about our society, or any society for that matter.

 

[Dj_Jestar]

Maybe, but the recent trend has been for continual growth in both revenue and population. So long as nothing catastrophic happens, we'll expand and expand.

Even with a post-scarcity ecomony there will be opportunities for growth.

Depends on your definition of "We". If you mean the nation, then yes, but other nations will get poor to support it. As a global whole, there is no growth outside of population size. The same amount of resource still exists, or to be more accurate, is in fact shrinking (natural resources declining etc.)

There is *no* such thing as global economic growth, it is impossible.

 

[magick]

Quite true. All that limits space exploration and exploitation is investment and technology. As the resources become every more scarce, the cost and level of investment will decrease and increase respectively.

You'r assuming ETs will let us go out and rape other planets/animals for there resources in the name of ego-centric materialism when THEY WON'T.

There's a reson we haven't gone back to the moon and we won't be going to mars anytime soon. In fact one of my friends (a very powerful remote viewer) has told me that as soon as we make it past the moon our civilisation will come to end. Note it will be ended as opposed to being destroyed. ET's have threatened governments they will disable every electrical device on the planet if we attempt to goto or beyond the moon with our current attitudes.