Branko Milanovic — Inevitability of the need for economic growth—the nth time.

Today, I got into a bit of a Twitter spat with Kate Raworth who suggested in a talk to OECD top brass that their statement of objectives (defined, I guess, in the 1950s or 1960s) which emphasizes the achievement of high growth rates should be modified to create “redistributive and regenerative economies..whether or not they grow”. I have to confess not to have read Kate’s very successful “Doughnut economics” yet but hope to make up for that very soon. But I have read some reviews and my reaction to the suggested change in the OECD mission statement was thoroughly negative. De-emphasizing growth is not desirable, and perhaps more importantly, is utterly unrealizable in societies like our modern societies. Because I am convinced of the latter, perhaps I should refrain from criticizing her position—since I believe that nothing will ever come of it.
But let me still explain under several headings why I think so. (Surely, the OECD statement may be changed for PR reasons, but this is immaterial.)

Depends on the meaning of "growth.

Obviously, a growing population requires maintaining growth to offset and innovation can produce higher growth levels thorough increased productivity that obviates or reduced increased need for scarce resources and does so sustainably.

This is an important debate to have and the issues are coming to the fore in political economy as it relates to globalization.

In my view, the neoliberal concept of growth (growth for the sake of growth) needs to be revisited and overhauled on the core assumption (value statement) that economies serve societies rather than vice versa.

This is essentially a debate about values, and the kind of world that we want to create and living in, not only ourselves but future generations. Discussion of means follows this.

Milanovic observes that the fundamental problematic is that of capitalism. Everyone wants the benefits but then complains about the tradeoffs that are systemically necessary but undesirable. Standard of living includes more than can be measured in terms of increased material benefits, which not only do not yield abiding happiness but the inordinate pursuit of which individually and socially may become a detriment to fulfillment.

Global Inequality
Inevitability of the need for economic growth—the nth time.
Branko Milanovic | Visiting Presidential Professor at City University of New York Graduate Center and senior scholar at the Luxembourg Income Study (LIS), and formerly lead economist in the World Bank's research department and senior associate at Carnegie Endowment for International Peace