经济概论.docx
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经济概论.docx
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经济概论
Happydegrowththroughmoreamateureconomy
Abstract
Thispaperoutlinesasimple,aggregate,descriptivemodelofwhatisheretermeda“wholeeconomy”,coveringallhumaninvolvementintheeconomy,fromultimatemeansorecologicalsacrifices,totheultimateendsofhumansatisfaction.Themodelembracesnotonlytheformal“professionaleconomy”drivenbymoney,butalsotheparallelnon-paid,voluntaryeconomy,heretermed“amateureconomy”,drivenbypeoples’affectivemotivations.
Theinputofworktotheeconomyplaysanessentialroleinthepaper’sanalysisofoptionsforreducingecologicalsacrifices.Hence,partofthepaperisdevotedtoabriefhistoricaloverviewoftheroleofwork,includingturningpointsinthe1930sintheUnitedStates,whenworksharingwasdisplacedbyworkcreationthroughconsumerism,and,inthepost-wareconomywhenGDPbecamethedominanteconomicindicator.
Thepaperproposestheaimofahappyandsustainabledegrowthforaffluentcountries,implyingthetransferofsomeactivitiesfromtheprofessionaleconomytotheless‘labor’productiveamateureconomy.Thiswilltendtoreduceoveralllaborproductivityandhenceresourcethroughput,butincreasesatisfactionandhappiness.Akeyelementintheanalysisiscombiningareductioninconsumptionwithareductioninproduction,whichisobtainablethroughloweringeitherworkingtimeorworkproductivityandturningsomeoftheleisuretimeintovoluntaryactivities.
Economicgrowthisnotalawofnaturebuttheconsequenceofexplicitpoliticaldecisionstaken.Hencegrowthisalsoopentonewpoliticaldecisionsinrecognitionofphysicallimitstogrowthandthehumanquestforreplacingeconomicgrowthwithlifesatisfaction,includingincreasedfreetime.
Keywords
Degrowtheconomy;
Amateureconomy;
Laborproductivity;
Worksharing;
Happiness;
Sustainability
1.Introduction
“Thesubconsciousreason[forAmericans'oppositiontorestrictionsinenergyuse]isthatmanypeopleareafraidoftheaddedfreetime,whichwillaccrueasproductionislimited”.
VictorPaschkis,1972
Oneyearbeforethe1973oilcrisiserupted,physicistVictorPaschkisobservedthatoppositiontorestrictionsonenergyusestemmedfromAmericans’subconsciousfearoffreetime.Thatsameyear,theClubofRomereport,TheLimitstoGrowth,(Meadowsetal.,1972),contributedtoaboominawarenessoftheriskfromcontinuingtherichworld’spathofdevelopment.Inthedebatethatfollowednegativereactionstothebooklargelyignoreditslong-termprojections,whichtodayappearquitecorrect(Nørgårdetal.,2010).
Whenpeopleinaffluentcountriesbecomeconsciousabouthumanpressureontheenvironment,afirstsolutionthatcomestomindistypicallytoreducewastefulphysicalconsumption.Thisissomethingwedirectlyfaceineverydaylife,andisindeedveryrelevant.Lessobvious,however,isthenecessitytoalsoreduceourcontributiontotheproductionofgoodsandservicesthroughtheworkweperform.Fortheindividual,thisroleappearsasasmallpieceinabigpuzzle.Itcanbeeasytooverlooktheenvironmentalconsequencesofone’swork.Inadegrowtheconomy,however,wehavetoconstrainbothourconsumptionandourproduction.
Whentheconceptsof‘growth’and‘degrowth’areusedinthispapertheyprimarilyrefertoincreasingorreducingtheeconomy’sphysicalthroughput.Sincethroughputisdirectly(althoughnotproportionately)coupledtotheGDP(Nørgård,2009),wehavedegrowthinGDPinmindthroughoutthepaper.
Today’sdebateonhowtomitigateclimatechangeandotherurgentenvironmentalproblemsisdominatedbytechnologicalsolutionsandignoresthetwoothermainfactorsofpopulationsizeandpercapitaconsumption.Buttheultimateissueshavetodonotonlywiththetemporarytransitionphasesofgrowthordegrowthassuch,butevenmorewiththeenvironmentalsustainabilityofthesteadystatelevels,atwhichthesetransitionsareaiming.Thereshouldbenodoubtthattheaffluentpartoftheworldneedstomoveintoatemporarydegrowthphaseuntilamoreoptimaleconomiclevelisreached.Thispaperdemonstrateshowreducingpaidworktimeandconsumptioncanhelptakeustowardmitigatingtheenvironmentalpressure,whileatthesametimeimprovingpeople’sgeneralwell-being.
Thepaperisorganizedalongthefollowinglines:
Section2presentsasimpledescriptivemodeloftheeconomythatismoreholisticthanhasbecomecustomary.Thiswholeeconomymodelisobtainedbyexpandingtheeconomicchaintoincludeparametersthataremoreappropriatebuthardertoquantify,suchashumanhappinessandtheexploitationofnature.
Section3presentshistoricalreflectionsrelevanttothediscussionofdegrowth,especiallytheroleofwork,withspecialattentiontoaturningpointinthe1930s,whenconsumerismemergedasthepathoutofdepression.
Section4describesthedevelopmentinmorerecentdecadeswithregardtothepoliticalchoicebetweenworkhoursandleisureandconsiderstheconsequencesofthefixationongrowthinGrossDomesticProduct(GDP)asthedominantindicatorofprogress.
Section5isdevotedtosurveysofpeople’spreferencesforleisureversusincomeandincludessomediscussionontheenvironmentalimpactofleisureandanintendedreductioninlaborproductivity.
Section6describessomeexamplesofamateureconomicactivities,bothonanindividualbaseandincollectiveundertakings.
Section7roundsoutthepaperwithsomereflectionsandconclusions.
2.Wholeeconomymodel
“Noteverythingthatcanbecountedcounts,and
noteverythingthatcounts,canbecounted.”
A.Einstein.
Attheoutset,economicsasadisciplinewasnotaboutmoneyasitiscommonlyperceivedtoday.AstheGreekoriginofthewordindicates,economyisaboutgoodhousekeepingwithresources.Onlysomeofthetransactionsinourdailylifehappentobemeasuredinmoneyterms,andhencecontributetoGDP.Butinrecentdecadesthathasbeenagrowingpart.Therearemanygoodreasonstoblowthewhistleonthepresentextensiveuseofthisnarrowone-dimensionalindicator,GDP,asameasureofasociety’seconomichealth.
2.1.Unfoldingtoawholeeconomy
InsearchingforreplacementforthisdefectiveGDP,itappearsusefultounfoldtheconventionalmonetarymodelintwodirections,verticalandhorizontal,toformwhatisinthispapertermedawholeeconomyasillustratedinFig.1.
Fig.1.
ModeloftheWholeEconomyflowfromcosttobenefits.Wholeeconomyismuchmorethanthemoneyeconomy,sinceitincludesallthestepsinconvertingtheultimatecosttotheultimatebenefits,humanhappiness.Besidestheprofessionalmoneybasedeconomicchain,alsotheamateureconomycontributestopeople’ssatisfactionasdoesnature’sfreegifts.
Figureoptions
Theverticalunfoldingimpliesextendingthechainofflowsbeyondtheeasilyquantifiablemonetaryparameterstoinclude‘softer’conceptsfromtheultimatecostoftheexploitationofnatureuptotheultimatebenefits.Thelatterisherealsotermedhappinessorsatisfactionandissynonymoustowhatiselsewheretermedhumanwell-beingor,byHermanDaly,ultimateend(Daly,1977:
19;Nørgård,2006).
Thehorizontalunfoldingoftheeconomicsystemconsistsofembracingallactivitiesthatprovidehumansatisfactionorhappiness.Asillustrated,thelinkagescanbedividedintothreemaincategories:
theprofessionaleconomyinthecenter,theamateureconomytotherightand,totheleft,theflowoffreegiftsfromnature,designatedhereas“Gratis”.Thelattermaynotentirelyqualifyaspartoftheeconomy,sinceitgeneratessatisfactionwithoutrequiringanyproductioninputsbyhumans.Buttheamountoffreesatisfactionfromthisgratischaininfluencesthedemandontheothertwochains.
Intoday’saffluentnations,thetransactionscentraltotheeconomyarethosepassingthroughtheprofessionaleconomy,definedasthepartdrivenbymoney,quantifiedandsummedupasGDP.TheprofessionaleconomyconstitutesonlysomeofthelinksinFig.1’scentralchain,suspendedbetweenultimatecostandultimatebenefits,bothofwhicharehardtoquantifyandimpossibletoexpressinmoneyterms.Natureassuchisbasicallyascribednomonetaryvalue,andhumanhappinessalsofailsadirectmonetizing.
Theseultimatecostandbenefitsconstitutewhattheeconomyshouldinprincipledealwith.Classically,thepurposeoftheeconomywasoftenexpressedasprovidinghappiness(Bentham,1996).ToNineteenthCenturyUtilitarianism,theperceptionoflivinginaninfinite,emptyworldmadeconsiderationonanyultimatecostinecologicalsacrificesseeminglymeaningless.Todaymosteconomistsandpoliticiansstillseemtodisregardtheultimatecost.Theyoftenseemtohavesuppressedthe“soft”aspectsofthewholeeconomy,likehappinessandsatisfaction.Thetypicaleconomist’stendencytorestrictresearchtomonetizedparametersisprobablymotivatedbyasubconsciouswishtomakeeconomicsappearasamoreobjectivescience,Buttakenoverbypoliticians,theexclusionofnon-quantifiableparameterstendstoreducetheroomforsubjective,democraticpoliticaldecisions.
Inrecentdecades,however,extensivesurveysandotherresearchareincreasinglydevotedtoquantifyingtheultimatebenefits,humansatisfactionandhappiness(see,forexample,Layard,2005).Similarly,theultimatecostinenvironmentaldamageandresourcedepletionisbeinginvestigatedandrecordedbyvariousparameterslikeCO2-emission,phosphorousflowintooceansandbiodiversity(Rockströmetal.,2009).EcologicalFootprintisincreasinglybeingrecognizedasaparametersummarizingsomeimportantecologicalcosts(WWF,2010andWackernageletal.,2005).
2.2.Professionalvers
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