A better metaphor for growth
2024-11-03 16:08:00 +07:00 by Mark Smith
Daniel Susskind was on the Keen On podcast this week. Lots of interesting topics covered centering around our current obsession with economic growth, from it’s historical origins, to the current moment and how it might be affected by AI.
His comments about how he thinks we should update the generally accepted metaphor for growth struck a chord with me [24:00]:
DS: Very often when people talk about economic growth, the kind of metaphors they have in mind is a kind of train, and they are sitting in the drivers seat and they can push forward on the throttle and go faster or pull back and go slower.
AK: Marx’s locomotive of history
DS: Yeah exactly, and in that spirit the direction of travel is set, it’s predetermined by the rails that are set down for us to trundle along, and the only question is do we want more or less growth [...] that’s the dimension in which the debate takes place. I’m saying that actually a far better metaphor is a nautical one. We are sitting in a boat and we can put up our masts and go faster, or we can put them down and go slower. But also, the direction of travel is far more open. There are many possibly directions our economy can take. The choice is not simply do we want more or less growth, but it’s also do we want a different type of growth as well [...] I think there are ways for us to pursue growth without destroying those other valuable things we care about. Whether it’s the environment, the level of equality in society, the health of local places and communities etc.
In some ways what he’s saying seems like common sense, like it’s obvious. But sometimes the obvious things need saying, because at some point in time, believe it or not the obvious things weren’t all that obvious. This feels like one of those things.
The rest of the discussion is super interesting too, worth listening to.