Infinite Growth Will Lead to Collapse

Our politicians don’t agree on much, but one thing most of them agree on is that growth is universally good. Grow the pie, they assure us, and there will be more to go around. Our guest on Downstream this week could not disagree more. Professor Jason Hickel argues that the mindless pursuit of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth isn’t just a bad thing, but is leading humanity to catastrophe. He is an expert on what climate collapse actually means, as well as the solutions available to us that could mitigate the crisis.

In conversation with Aaron Bastani, they discuss where the current growth forecasts will lead humanity, and the planet we live on. How does Palestine fit into the broader geo-political picture? Is green growth a plausible economic strategy, or just a greenwashed version of capitalism? And does degrowth need a re-brand?