Published January 16, 2013, 12:00 AM
Reader’s view: Earth can’t support endless economic growth
Our financial system is based on the assumption of endless growth on a limited planet. Banks create wealth out of thin air, and the economy must grow at a rate sufficient for their loans to be repaid with interest. What could go wrong?
Our financial system is based on the assumption of endless growth on a limited planet. Banks create wealth out of thin air, and the economy must grow at a rate sufficient for their loans to be repaid with interest. What could go wrong?
Richard Heinberg’s book, “The End of Growth,” shows the need for a new paradigm. Resource depletion, global warming and financial failures demand it. Just as we shouldn’t let medieval theology determine birth-control policies on a planet of 7 billion people, our economic policies can’t be based on the obsolete notion of endless growth.
David A. Sorensen
Duluth
Tags: readers views, opinion, editorials, environment, business, money
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