An attention-getting book about growth

A few weeks ago, I finished reading “Growth, a history and a reckoning” by Daniel Susskind. Let me admit that I’m very much interested in the subjects of growth and sustainability, and the cover of the book caught my eye! 

The first part of the book was well constructed and quite informative. I liked the history of growth, that is the thousands of years of stagnation that preceded the industrial age (even though, the advent of fossil fuels and turning points like the Renaissance period, weren't even mentioned) all the way to the “hockey stick” shaped growth that followed. 

It explained the creation of GDP as a measure of growth and the single-minded quest for ever higher numbers of that magic unit. The author undermined the mantra that “We can’t have infinite growth on a finite planet”, or the need for “degrowth” that would lead to recession, or preserving the planet for coming generations, countering that the world of ideas is infinitely vast and would be magic band-aid. 

Clearly Susskind can’t imagine a world without traditional growth as we know it. Instead, it seems to me that addressing overpopulation, repairing the damages done to the planet, repaying countries’ staggering debt and substituting quality for quantity in a reasonably spread timeline could begin to move the needle in the right direction. 

Well, I’m not an economist, I’m just a retired, old skier...