🌻 Economic growth and the environment don't have to be enemies

Also: A Quick Q&A with …. economist John Van Reenen on the economics of creative destruction

Nov 21, 2023

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Quote of the Issue

“There is nothing stable in the world; uproar’s your only music.” - Joseph Schumpeter

I have a new book out: The Conservative Futurist: How To Create the Sci-Fi World We Were Promised is currently available pretty much everywhere. I’m very excited about it! Let’s gooooo! ⏩🆙↗⤴📈

The Mini-Essay

Envision a city of the future, blending nature and advanced technology harmoniously. Skyscrapers with vertical gardens on their facades soar into the sky, connected by skybridges adorned with lush greenery. Solar panels glisten under the sun while wind turbines blend seamlessly into the cityscape. The streets are lined with trees, and autonomous electric vehicles move silently on the roads. Public spaces are abundant, with people enjoying the outdoors in parks that weave through the urban environment, featuring futuristic sculptures and interactive digital installations that celebrate the fusion of nature and technology.

🌻 Economic growth and the environment don't have to be enemies

An incredible coincidence: Lots of folks who don’t like innovative, entrepreneurial market-technocapitalism … think the only way to tackle climate change is to abandon innovative, entrepreneurial market-technocapitalism. Time for eco-socialism! Top-down central economic planning to create an economy that places environmental sustainability rather than economic growth as its primary mission.

Now given that capitalism in all its many forms is the dominant socioeconomic structure of human civilization, that’s a big ask. Then again, what choice do we have? Things are only getting worse under the current system.

One hitch with this theory: Things aren’t getting worse.

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