1. From growth to a steady-state economy: a review of Herman Daly' s thoughts on sustainable development.
- Author
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Shuai, ZHANG and Dajian, ZHU
- Subjects
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THERMODYNAMIC laws , *NATURAL capital , *ECONOMIC expansion , *SUSTAINABLE development , *EXTERNALITIES , *WELL-being , *SECOND law of thermodynamics - Abstract
As a leading scholar in the field of sustainable development research, Herman Daly developed original and unique thoughts on sustainable development that have had world-class impacts on the theories, indicators, and policies in this field. Based on the frame-work of ' Ends-Means,' Daly's thoughts on sustainable development focus on the Ultimate End (well-being improvement) and the Ulti-mate Means (natural capital). Daly advocated that to use natural capital to promote human well-being in a sustainable manner, the cur-rent growth economy has to be transformed into a steady-state economy. Because economic growth has biophysical properties and is re-stricted by many factors, such as the laws of thermodynamics and planetary boundaries, unlimited growth is impossible. When its marginal ecological and social costs begin to be larger than its economic benefits, economic growth would turn into uneconomic growth. In this sense, unlimited growth is undesirable. As an alternative to the growth economy, the steady-state economy advocates promoting hu-man well-being within ecological limits and demands that stocks of material wealth be used efficiently and equitably. The steady-state economy is one of the most effective ways of achieving sustainable development. Along the main line of transforming the growth economy into the steady-state economy, as required by sustainable development, this paper reviews Daly's main thoughts on sustainable development on the following topics: ' a new perspective of economic production,' ' unlimited growth is impossible,' ' unlimited growth is undesirable,' and ' the steady-state economy is compatible with sustainable development.' Based on this review, the paper points out that, Daly's thoughts on sustainable development provide theoretical support and ideological implications for China's high-quality development from a different perspective, and broaden the theoretical horizon of China's high-quality development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2023