This article on economic growth is dedicated to the PAP

[laksaboy]

A Better Plan Than 'Endless Growth': Enough Is Enough
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/02/25-1?print

To build a successful economy of enough, we would first need to eliminate the "growth imperative"—factors that make the economy reliant on growth. These include reliance on inappropriate measures of progress, creation of debt-based money, and the use of aggregate growth as a tool (albeit a blunt one) for generating jobs. With key policy changes, it is possible to dismantle the growth imperative and build an economy that works for people and the planet.

Let's start with measures of progress. Our main economic indicator, GDP, is a good measure of economic activity—of money changing hands—but a poor measure of social welfare. It lumps together desirable expenditures (food, entertainment, and investment in education) with expenditures that we'd rather avoid (war, pollution, and family breakdown). In the language of economics, GDP does not distinguish between costs and benefits, but counts all economic activity as "progress."

Instead of GDP, we need indicators that measure the things that matter to people, such as health, happiness, and meaningful employment. We also need indicators that measure what matters to the planet, such as material use and carbon emissions. In fact, we already have these indicators; the problem is that we largely ignore them, because we are so fixated on GDP. If the goal of society could be changed from increasing GDP to improving human well-being and preventing long-term environmental damage, then many proposals currently seen as "impossible" would suddenly become possible.