Growth Is Good ~ Better For Enviro, Less Poverty

Extremely interesting to see the Next Big Future spotlight Maximizing Economic Growth and Aid to the Poor, emphasizing that Growth is Good, and pointing to Daniel Ben-Ami's 4 May 2006 essay Who's afraid of economic growth? in Spiked...

"Behind today's trendy arguments about environmentalism, ethical living and happiness, there lurks a deep disdain for material progress. We live in a world in which there is an unprecedented degree of cynicism about the benefits of economic growth. Even though increasing affluence is still generally accepted as a worthwhile goal in principle, it is typically subject to numerous caveats. Among other things it is accused of damaging the environment, leading to inequality and failing to make people happy. "

After considerable elaboration, Ben-Ami concludes...

"For anyone committed to human progress it is imperative to launch a counter-attack against growth scepticism. Anti-growth thinking is a central part of the narrow consensus that nowadays passes for politics. Growth scepticism is integral to the idea that human potential should be constrained as a dangerous force. Therefore restating the case for growth is a central part of arguing for the power of humanity to create a better world."

Indeed, that's the goal of Maximizing Progress. Onward & upward!