Capitalism Versus Planet Earth

Keynes’ remedy is predicated upon the unstated assumption that there is ample capital in private hands to be invested once the propensity to consume has been invigorated.

As was said earlier, Keynes’ solution to a capitalist recession was to reinvigorate the economy with government expenditure.

The Credit Crunch is the result of the combined effect of two inter-related but separate trends: on one hand, the pressure on the rate of profit to fall and, on the other hand, the incessant accumulation of capital.

The aim of internalisation is to shift technology in a more energy-efficient direction – towards, for example, improved mileage for cars, replacement of fossil fuels with solar energy and, of course, recycling. But the introduction of more energy-efficient technology does not necessarily mean less pollution if increased efficiency is coupled with increased demand for these natural resources. This has been called the Jevons Paradox, after William Stanley Jevons, best known for his work The Coal Question (1865).

Sustainable development was first introduced as a concept in 1987 byOur Common Future, also known as the Brundtland Report, which defined it as ‘development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’.