Happiness and Ecology

Evidence suggests that sustainability requires reducing economic growth, not just greening it. This conclusion often leads to pessimism, based on two beliefs. The first concerns human tendency to demographic and economic expansion; the second relates to the political unfeasibility of limiting growth, because of lack of consensus. Both beliefs are challenged. First, the decline of fertility and per capita income growth provide reasons to expect nonincreasing anthropic pressure on ecosystems over the long run, belying the alleged human tendency to permanent expansion. Second, the lack of a clear alternative to growth as a means to increase well-being is the main reason why policies to limit growth have never gathered wide consensus. Findings from a large literature on subjective well-being and social capital provide the basis for proposing such an alternative. Specifically, it is argued that policies for social capital can decouple well-being from economic growth. Indeed, the crisis of social capital experienced by much of the world’s population is a root cause of the current unsustainable growth of the world economy. This happens because people seek economic affluence to compensate for the emotional distress and collective disempowerment caused by poor social capital. Policies are proposed that, by promoting social capital, would shift the economy toward a more sustainable path characterized by slower economic growth and increasing well-being. Such proposals are politically viable and can reconcile sustainability with well-being.