GETTING MORE OF WHAT MATTERS, AND NOT

MERELY MOREOr…

What’s the Economy for, Anyway?John de Graaf, EPA presentation,

August 2, 2011

Historical precedents

Lyndon Johnson warned of a future where “old values and new visions are buried under unbridled growth.

--Great Society speech, May, 1964

Richard Nixon questioned whether increases in consumption would really make us better off.

--State of the Union Address, 1970

Full-Cost Pricing

Richard Nixon advocated that “the price of goods should be made to include the costs of producing and disposing them without damage to the environment.”

--State of the Union Address, 1970

Our consumption growth is simply unsustainable

If everyone on Earthwere to consume at the level of Americans,

we would need FIVE planets.We can’t grow on like this.

Is technology the savior?

Technological developments and “green”alternatives are necessary but not sufficient to deal with the impacts ofover-consumption.

We must find a way to live better with less impact on the earth.

Yet, calls for sacrifice don’t work

Jimmy Carter argued that, ‘There is simply no way to avoid sacrifice.

--Carter speech, July 15, 1979

Carter was badly defeated in his re-election campaign.

30 years later, calls for “economic growth” are triumphant

“In the near term, every policy must be viewed through a single prism: Does it

help the economy grow?” --Indiana Senator Evan Bayh,

2010 election post-mortem in The New York Times

The problem with GDP growthGross Domestic Product is a

poor guide to well-being

It counts (as positive): Oil spills, cancer, divorce…etc.

It does not count: volunteering, taking care of friends and family, unpaid work, exercise…etc.

We need new indicators of progress to supplement the

GDP

Sustainable consumption is not a sacrifice

The sacrifice is now.

According to the Gallup-Healthways World Poll, the United States Ranks:

(1 is best; 150 is worst)

69th in SADNESS75th in ANGER

89th in ANXIETY145th in STRESS

We are sacrificing our health

The United States spends nearly twiceas much as other rich countries forhealth care, yet we rank:

–50th in the world in life expectancy–45th in the world in infant mortality–2nd in the world in obesitySource—CIA World Factbook

Lonely

According to a 2010 TIME/AARP study, the percentage of Americans over 45 who are chronically lonely rose from 20% to

35% during the past ten years.

But what has this got to do with the environment?

Lonely people consume more

Advertisers sell products on appeals to non-material needs, particularly for social connection.

“This product will make you popular and loved…” etc.

The view from EuropeItalian economist Stefano Bartolini argues that rapid American economic growth is a symptom of decay,

not dynamism.

• It is caused by weakening social connection and environmental deterioration.

• Americans are asked to substitute products for the loss of connection and the environmental commons.• Spending increases but quality of life decreases

• The cycle continues and worsens

Asking the right question

What’s the Economy for, Anyway?

More stuff ?

Or…

A healthy, happy, fair and sustainable society?

We have an unemployment crisis

How should we solve it?Can we create more jobs without creating more

health problems and time poverty?Can we create more jobs without increasing

unsustainable consumption?Can we create more jobs while improving social

connection?

Learning from other countries

Germany—the Kurzarbeit solution—creating jobs by sharing work

The Netherlands—The Hours Adjustment Act—creating jobs by allowing for voluntary reductions in hours

U.S. Ambassador to Germany a big fan of Kurzarbeit

Ambassador Philip Murphy says shorter working hours help reduce unemployment:

“I am a big fan of “Kurzarbeit” [a scheme where a worker’s total number of hours each week are reduced to avoid layoffs, with the government covering part of salaries]. I think it's a great model.”

Dutch policy focused on sustainable consumption

• People can choose to work and consume less.• “Consumendrin”—consuming less—is a

Dutch goal• Creates an enormous advance in practical

freedom for most people.• Germany and Belgium have now adopted

same law.

How are working hours connected to the environment?

According to the Center for Economic and Policy Research, reducing American work hours to European levels would reduce our energy use and carbon footprint by 20-30 percent.

Swedish scientist Jorgen Larsson found that a 1 percent decrease in working hours means a .89 percent drop in energy use and carbon outputs.

Longer working hours and more time stress mean…

• More need for convenience and throw-away products

• More reliance on fast food• Less time to re-use and recycle• Less time for slower, less energy-intensive

transportation such as cycling or walking.

Where is well-being the highest?

According to Gallup-Healthways poll, 2010:

1. Denmark 2. Finland3. Norway4. Sweden5. The Netherlands…11. United States

How do we get there?

We need opportunities to trade productivity increases for time instead of stuff—choice of shorter work hours, longer vacations, etc.

We need new measurements of economic success.

We need to comprehensively measure well-being.

Many countries are now looking at this.

Bhutan’s domains of well-being

• Material well-being (consumption)• Physical health• Mental health• Social connection/community vitality• Arts, culture and recreation• Access to Education• Democratic governance• Time Balance• The Environment

UN calls for new measures of progress

On July 19th, the UN General Assembly called on member nations to focus on measuring well-being or happiness instead of GDP. The search for alternatives to GDP is now part of mainstream thinking worldwide.

Bhutan makes decisions based on their impacts on all well-being

domains

Environmental domain:

• 60 percent of lands must remain forested• Goal is no net CO2 increases• Economic development must not damage the

environment

Our campaign to increase well-being

Sustainable Seattle has established The Happiness Initiative to more adequately measure well-being and engage citizens in actions to improve well-being and ecological sustainablity.

Eldan Goldenberg will tell you what our surveys have found.

www.sustainableseattle.org