Europe has long embraced the globalised capitalist economic model. Economists and politicians tell us that the economy’s health is measured by how much it grows.
When we experience two consecutive quarters without economic growth, we are told we are in a recession and must pull up our socks and work even harder. We need to ask ourselves whether our obsession with measuring GDP is leading us to miss the woods for the trees.
Constant economic growth has become almost like a dogma of faith for most European countries. Our leaders adopt economic strategies to create new goods and services to expand the economy.
Too often, more growth means more natural resources are used up, more waste is produced, more vulnerable workers have to work in precarious conditions, and almost all of us must tolerate pressure to work harder for longer.
Almost all European countries have stuck to the neoliberal thinking of the latter half of the 20th century, promoting policies that often mean rich people come out on top. In contrast, poor people and the environment suffer.
So, is there a better way of measuring well-being beyond the constant scrutiny of GDP growth? “Sustainable” growth has become the buzzword of some international institutions and political leaders. Many business leaders pay lip service to the importance of sustainable development but often suggest that decoupling GDP growth from environmental damage is impossible.
Yet, there is hope that one day we will find a way of reversing this trend. More economists now believe that the only way to ensure a sustainable future is to replace economic growth with human and environmental welfare as the end goal of our economies.
Fifty years ago, the economist E.F. Schumacher wrote an influential book, Small is Beautiful. He argued that it is a mistake to emphasise output and higher income when real-life satisfaction comes from the quality of life, such as pollution levels, free time, education and cultural opportunities and political freedom.
Schumacher wrote: “An attitude to life which seeks fulfilment in the single-minded pursuit of wealth – in short, materialism – does not fit into this world, because it contains within itself no limiting principle while the environment in which it is placed is strictly limited.”
Europe needs transformational leaders who can convince people that the current neoliberal economic strategies are making people morally poorer
This was the birth of “degrowth” economics, which the World Economic Forum defines as “broadly meaning shrinking rather than growing economies, so we use less of the world’s energy and resources and put well-being ahead of profit”.
Unfortunately, the term degrowth is confusing. It has a negative connotation of lower living standards. We are made to believe that growth is always good and that degrowth implies less.
The EU’s Green New Deal objective for investing in the green economy to create sustainable economic growth is well-intentioned. However, it was badly sold to the public, who are becoming increasingly cynical about grand political plans that often lead to more pressure on hard-pressed ordinary citizens.
Of course, the emphasis should not be on reducing growth but on promoting growth that helps the environment. It requires a change in people’s attitudes. It is not a strategy that can be implemented from the top down.
Undoubtedly, some people are beginning to resist their political leaders’ commitment to growth at all costs, and some change is starting to happen.
For instance, residents in the Canary Islands are protesting against the invasion of mass tourism, threatening their quality of life.
Local politicians in tourism hotspots like Barcelona, Venice and Amsterdam are beginning to introduce a tourism tax to curb the mass inflow of visitors disrupting the lives of local residents and putting the cities’ infrastructure under immense pressure.
Some small European countries and urban areas realise they have reached their growth limit. They want things to change even if they lack the courage to devise plans to promote healthier economic growth.
Europe needs transformational leaders who can convince people that the current neoliberal economic strategies are making people morally poorer by wasting scarce natural resources and often promoting modern-day slavery for vulnerable workers.
People need to understand, for instance, that low-cost travel comes with a significant cost to our quality of life, even if it means we can now afford to have an overseas holiday once or even twice a year.
Frederic Jameson, an American philosopher, once said: “It is easier to imagine the end of the world than it is to imagine the end of capitalism.”
Does Europe have the inspirational leaders to prove him wrong?