Kenneth E. Boulding: Mad Growth Economist
on Tuesday, August 21, 2018Kenneth E. Boulding Money Quote saying two extremely different personalities both agree on endless economic growth – nut jobs and nutty economic professors. Kenneth E. Boulding said:
“Anyone who believes that exponential growth can go on forever in a finite world is either a madman or an economist” — Kenneth E. Boulding
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In this quote, Kenneth E. Boulding is criticizing the assumption of endless economic growth within the constraints of our limited planet. He states that anyone who thinks exponential growth can continue indefinitely on Earth is either insane (“a madman”) or an economist.
This implies that economists in particular seem too often to ignore ecological realities by advocating for perpetual quantitative expansion, which is impossible given our finite resources and environmental boundaries.
Boulding appears to be arguing that economists should recognize physical limits to growth and question the validity of models predicting unending increases, since this contradicts Earth’s limited carrying capacity according to scientific understanding.
Birthday: January 18, 1910 – Death: March 18, 1993