The Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy

1. The Fundamental Conflict Between Economic Growthand Wildlife Conservation(Including Considerations ofTechnological Progress) The Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy Compiled in collaboration with The Wildlife Society’s Working Group for the Steady State Economy

2. Economic Growth • an increase in the production and consumption of goods and services • typically expressed in terms of GDP • facilitated by increasing: • population • per capita consumption

3. The Theoretical Framework

4. K Natural capital allocated to wildlife GDP Natural capital allocated to human economy Time Czech, B. 2000. Economic growth as the limiting factor for wildlife conservation. Wildlife Society Bulletin 28(1):4-14.

5. PDF files for these articles available at The Wildlife Society website: www.wildlife.org. (Follow links to Wildlife Society Bulletin.)

6. Some Empirical Evidence: Causes of Species Endangerment as a “Who’s Who” of the American Economy

7. Endangerment Causes Czech et al. 2000. Bioscience 50(7):593-601. Urbanization Agriculture Water diversions (e.g., reservoirs) Recreation, tourism development Pollution Domestic livestock, ranching 247 205 160 148 143 136

8. Causes (cont.) Czech et al. 2000. Bioscience 50(7):593-601. Mineral, gas, oil extraction Non-native species Harvest Modified fire regimes Road construction/maintenance Industrial development 134 115 101 83 83 81

9. Making sense of the Who’s Who with Trophic Theory

10. Economy of Nature Super- Carnivores Service Providers Consumers Producers (i.e., plants)

11. Human Economy Light manufacturing Heavy manufacturing Service Sectors Producers (i.e., agriculture, extraction)

12. Human-inclusive Economy of Nature Humans Service Providers Animals Plants

13. With Economic Growth Human Economy Service Providers Animals Plants

14. Basic Population Dynamics

15. Ecological Carrying Capacity Scenarios K K-selection Individuals r-selection Time

16. Economic Carrying Capacity Scenarios K K-selection r-selection GDP Time

17. K and r-selected Economies

18. American GDP, 1929-1997 K or r-selected?

19. But, for the sake of wildlife conservation, it’s not enough to hope we’re a K-selected economy.

20. Wildlife Conservation and Steady State Economy K To conserve wildlife... GDP ...maintain steady state economy sufficiently below K. Time

21. But what about Technological Progress?

22. Technological Progress • Vernacular: invention, innovation • Technical: increasing productive efficiency resulting from invention and innovation

23. Natural CapitalAllocation Revisited KU X natural capital allocable KT Natural capital allocated to non-human economy GDP Natural capital allocated to human economy Time

24. The Big Hope KU X natural capital remains allocable K2 X/2 conserved K1 Economic growth with technology level 2 GDP Economic growth with technology level 1 Time

25. The Great Debate: Is There a Limit? “Yes” • Physiocrats • Classical economists • Ecological economists • Ecologists “No” • Neoclassical economists • Corporations • Politicians

26. Why would there not be a limit? Substitutability of resources Increasing productive efficiency

27. White Pine, “Big Wheel”

28. Sitka Spruce, Timbco 435 “Feller Buncher”

29. Why would there be a limit? Carrying capacity Thermodynamics Trophic levels

30. Carrying Capacity • Consumers • Products • Byproducts

31. Thermodynamics • Fixed amount of energy, matter (E = mc2) • Entropy

32. Another look at trophic levels, this time in light of thermodynamics.

33. Economy of Nature Biomass/100 Service Providers Biomass/10 Biomass

34. Human Economy Light manufacturing Heavy manufacturing Service Sectors Producers (i.e., agriculture, extraction)

35. Clear to All Without technological progress, GDP is limited.

36. Unclear to Many Does technological progress occur without economic growth at current levels of technology?

37. Consider the Sources of Technological Progress • Research and development • Corporate profit • Economies of scale Czech, B. 2003. Conservation Biology 17(5):1455-1457.

38. One More Look at Allocation KU X natural capital allocable KT Natural capital allocated to non-human economy GDP Natural capital allocated to human economy Time

39. Remember the Big Hope? KU X natural capital remains allocable K2 X/2 conserved K1 Economic growth with technology level 2 GDP Economic growth with technology level 1 Time

40. The Apparent Reality KU X/2 natural capital allocable K2 X/2 converted K1 GDP Economic growth with technology level 2 Economic growth with technology level 1 Time

41. The “Information” Economy

42. The “Information” Economy • What is the information used for? • How does one come to afford the information?

43. The Steady State Economy What it Is, Entails, and Connotes Czech, B., and H. Daly. 2004. Wildlife Society Bulletin 32(2):598-605.

44. Steady State Economy • Stable production and consumption of goods and services • Indicated by stable GDP • Stabilized: • population • per capita consumption • “throughput”

45. Implications of a Steady State Economy

46. Quality of Life • Steady in a material sense • Increasing in a holistic sense • Sustainable • Ever higher relative to quality in bloating economy

47. Jobs • Ceteris paribus, constant • Change with economic development • Optimal size of economy for wildlife biologist jobs

48. Bank Accounts • Steady • Sustainable • Indicative of ecological footprint

49. What About the Stock Market?

50. No Bull