Roland Kupers — A Green Alternative to Austerity?

...the fact that one cannot prove conclusively how green growth would work does not mean that we should give up on the idea. We know from history that waves of innovation, from the steam engine to the information and communications revolution, have led to dramatic increases in economic growth. We cannot prove that a wave of environmental innovation will have a similar effect, but the studies of the parts make such an outcome highly plausible.

As humans, we are uniquely equipped to make decisions on the basis of ambiguous information – in fact, we do it all the time. When we choose a career or a spouse in our private lives, or when a politician seizes an opportunity from a plethora of possibilities, the task at hand is always about making highly consequential decisions based on imperfect information.

A big pile of green-growth reports demonstrates the plausibility of this path to recovery from an historic economic crisis. It is now up to us to realize its potential. Green growth offers a realistic alternative to the faltering austerity approach to overcoming the current economic crisis. Policymakers should incorporate this thinking into the “beyond austerity” narrative that is taking shape in a growing number of key EU member states.

Read it at Project Syndicate
A Green Alternative to Austerity?

Roland Kupers | Research Director at THNK and Visiting Fellow at Oxford University