Managing Without Growth

Published in the Catalyst, Vol. 32, No. 2 - Spring 2009

Managing without Growth: Slower by Design, Not Disaster
By Peter Victor
United Kingdom: Edward Elgar, 2008

Reviewed by Mariel Angus

“It is difficult, if not impossible, to step outside your own value system and reflect upon it,” acknowledges author Peter Victor, but this is what he invites readers to do in his book Managing Without Growth: Slower by Design, Not Disaster.

Using a carefully crafted argument, Victor challenges one of the most fundamental notions of the past half-century: that economic growth in industrialized countries is necessary and desirable for greater development and well-being.

Since the Second World War, economic growth has been promoted as the answer to unemployment, poverty and environmental degradation. However, as Victor illustrates, this has not occurred. While it has brought greater health and prosperity to many, economic growth in wealthy nations has also proven to be environmentally unsustainable and has left little room for developing countries to prosper. Studies have shown that higher levels of consumption have not made most of us any happier, either.

So how can we reconcile ecology with economics? Victor’s answer to this dilemma is to “manage our economy without growth” through adapting economic and social policies that respect the limits of our environment. Victor demonstrates that poverty and unemployment can also be addressed by shifting our priorities away from consumerism and towards a redistribution of existing resources.

While Victor makes use of economic models to support his argument, he accompanies them with clear explanations that allow his ideas to be accessible to readers without a background in economics.

There is an urgent need for our society to recognize that our way of life far surpasses the biophysical limits of our planet. Victor’s book provides a thoughtful and constructive analysis of our current reality and demonstrates that, through careful management, we can consciously slow down our economy by design and not disaster.