[ralfy]

ralfy - Between the combination of population growth and the desire of most to improve their lives is there any system that doesn't require growth?

Various systems require growth but not at the rate brought about by free market capitalism, which involves competition and credit.

[ralfy]

Or another way of putting it is can humans learn to live without growth either population or in consumption etc. ?

I think it's possible only if the population base had been small enough compared to resources available. That is, with increasing prosperity, birth rates would eventually decrease, leading to population aging.

I'm also reminded of the behavioral sink, which was discussed in various threads:

why-is-overpopulation-such-a-taboo-topic-pt-3-t70729-200.html#p1238657

[ralfy]

With regards to factors related to growth, etc., I think several are mentioned in Guns, Germs, and Steel.

[KaiserJeep]

Part II of this two part article has been published.

After Earth Day: Capitalist Ideas Save the Planet

By R. Randolph Richardson, May 12, 2016, 4:55 am

Part II in a series on how capitalism will save the environment.

Last Earth Day world leaders gathered to sign a global climate accord, offering ambitious emission pledges — more aspirational that substantive — that leave wide open the question of how all this will actually be accomplished.

Fortunately, clean capitalists lead the way. Crushing costs, big wind and solar just beat gas or coal on unsubsidized price alone, with lowest levelized costs for best executed and sited plants in 2015. The strong forecast-beating trend is clear: surging growth, profitability and competitiveness are here now, at the leading edge, with more on the way.

The most stunning implication of this market disruption? When unsubsidized profits appear in industries with strong tech driven cost reduction curves, tax rates on profits suddenly matter, a lot. These can have a strong effect on growth by boosting returns, thus attracting new investment. So suddenly tax rates become a powerful policy tool. One as yet unconsidered by most climate policy experts or economists or world leaders.

Rest of Part II: http://spectator.org/after-earth-day-how-capitalist-ideas-can-save-the-planet/