Kenneth Boulding (1910-1993)
was Professor of Economics, University of Michigan. His article
on Spaceship Earth outlined two types of economy, the 'cowboy
economy' of industrialised nations at that time:
- 'cowboy economy'
- illimitable plains, open economy
- consumption and production a good thing
- success measured by amount of throughput of factors of
production
and the more ideal 'spaceman economy' which he argued nations
should be moving towards:
- 'spaceman economy'
- closed economy
- limits on extraction and pollution
- need for continuous reproduction of material form
- throughput to be minimised rather than maximised
- concern with stock maintenance
- maintain a state with less consumption eg things that
don't wear out.
- success measured by "nature, extent, quality, and complexity
of the total capital stock, including in this the state
of human bodies and minds"
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