Prosperity without growth?

It’s official. The reason the economy is not growing is that we have had too much growth. The solution is to curb consumption. These are the conclusions of a report on Prosperity Without Growth by Professor Tim Jackson for the Sustainable Development Commission. Given his long-standing views on the subject the likely conclusions were pretty clear before it was written.

When I have time I hope to do a more detailed critique of the report. In the meantime I’d like to suggest the subject of a new report for the British government to commission. How about “breathing without oxygen”? Or perhaps “redefining black as white”?