The economics of degrowth

Economic degrowth is ecologically desirable, and possibly inevitable; but under what conditions can it become socially sustainable? How can we have full employment and economic stability without growth? What will happen to public spending and to public debt? How would production be organised in a degrowing economy? And under what plausible socio-political conditions could such grand changes happen? Standard economic theories and models ignore these questions. For them economic growth is an axiomatic necessity. This article reviews recent contributions in the economics of degrowth and identifies research avenues for ecological economists. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.