ABSTRACT
The prospects for comprehensive, global economic growth are increasingly in doubt as evidence mounts that the human economy is exceeding the biophysical capacity of the planet to support it. If poor countries are to benefit from economic growth, at least for a while, rich countries should replace the pursuit of economic growth with other more specific objectives to enhance human well-being and to reduce competition with other species. What is entailed in an economy in which the rate of growth is lowered, even to zero? Some insights into this question are provided using the interactive, macroeconomic model LowGrow SFC (stock-flow consistent) that simulates the Canadian economy to the year 2067. In this chapter, three scenarios are compared: a base case in which recent trends continue, an ambitious greenhouse gas reduction scenario, and a comprehensive Sustainable Prosperity scenario. The chapter concludes with a discussion of policy directions when well-being for all rather than economic growth is the priority.
