ABSTRACT
W ell before Our Common Future (WCED 1987) popularized the concept of sustainability, the idea (if not the precise term) figured prominently in debates about scarcity and growth. The original Scarcity and Growth volume observed,
The classical economists—particularly Malthus, Ricardo and Mill—predicted that scarcity of natural resources would lead to … retardation and eventual cessation of economic growth. (Barnett and Morse 1963, 2)
