Sustainable economic development

The exponential growth of global population and our economic system threaten the foundations of our way of life. Many analysts claim this exponential growth has already exceeded the carrying capacity of the earth. What does sustainable economic development mean if we face a prolonged period of no net economic growth? First, qualitative economic development can continue even if quantitative growth does not. We can focus on making our lives qualitatively better and reduce material consumption at the same time. Second, the best strategy for mitigating the risks of the transition to a steady-state economy, and adapting to the changes we cannot control, is to make our communities more resilient to economic, environmental and social shocks. Fortunately, many organizations are working on these challenges. For example, all of the Sustainable Economic Development Initiative's (SEDI's) projects advance these objectives in one way or another. Success will require generative leadership as well as the willingness to undertake the transition of outmoded attitudes, values and behaviors to ones more appropriate to a dynamic equilibrium economy. The challenges are monumental, but we are living in a time in which growing complexity and approaching tipping points make it possible for the relatively small actions of a few to trigger significant changes in our economic, environmental, and social systems. In this situation, we find ourselves committed not because we “ought to”, but because we are compelled to do so.