Is sustainable or steady state economY possible or practical?
2016-02-11
Is sustainable or steady state economY possible or practical?
Nowadays, the concept of sustainable development is widespread. Almost all areas identify so-called principles of their sustainable development. Economics is not the exception. The category “economic sustainability” connects with the concepts of balance and developmental stability.
As we know, the majority of resources is limited on the Earth. And the economics can not grow permanently. It is limited by different factors. In this case, sustainable or steady state economy is the most fitting decision. Let’s analyze if it is possible to implement it. The current economic system is based on the consumption theory: different products/services are manufactured in order to satisfy customer needs. The new sustainable economy is connected with opposite theory or “anti-consumption”, because a sustainable economy is closely connected with its ecological component. In this case, fashion goods and luxury must not be produced in order to reduce the intake of resources. The current world is far from the idea to produce and buy only essential goods and take active part in activities, which aims environment protection. It should be noted that income stratification of the population has increased in many countries.
At the same time, the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) of a sustainable economy has already formed. But the problem of how to measure the TBL is still unresolved. According to experts, there is no single universal standard method to calculate TBL. Despite that, big transnational companies with high level of the corporate and social responsibility try to operate within the principles of a sustainable economy. In conclusion one can say that a sustainable economy is expedient, but there is no clear effective way to reach it now.
Bibliography
Brien, James, Katie Golicz, Bharat Mishra, and Jitendra Mishra. “The Big Idea” The Sustainable Economy And The TBL (Triple Bottom Line)”. Advances In Management 8 (1), 2015
