Ecological economics
How does an economy work when it sits inside a finite planet?
The 30-second version
The economy sits inside nature, not the other way round. Endless growth on a finite planet is impossible, so wellbeing within limits should replace GDP as the goal. The big argument: can technology decouple growth from emissions fast enough?
Big questions it works on
Go deeperKey ideas, thinkers, evidence and where it stands today
Key ideas
- The economy is a subsystem of the biosphere, not the other way round.
- Physical limits and entropy constrain growth (Georgescu-Roegen, 1971).
- A steady-state economy as a goal (Herman Daly).
- “Doughnut economics”: meet everyone's needs without overshooting planetary boundaries (Kate Raworth, 2017).
Key thinkers
Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen, Herman Daly, Kate Raworth, Tim Jackson
What it got right
Main criticisms
Evidence worth knowing
UK territorial emissions roughly halved between 1990 and the early 2020s while the economy grew. A 2020 review by Haberl and colleagues found decoupling of that kind rare and too slow for climate targets.
Where it stands today
Its own journals and societies; rising student interest. Several national statistics offices, including the UK's and New Zealand's, now publish well-being measures alongside GDP.
Family line
Reacting against growth as the default goal of mainstream economics.