Category: Uncategorized
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Medium-term effects of zero growth: Finland 2008-2025
Tl;dr: Finland, a social democratic welfare state, has had no GDP growth in real terms between 2008 and 2025. There are few obvious economic “effects” of stagnation, because many indicators fluctuated up and down in this period and those that rose persistently had been rising also before stagnation. Wealth inequality rose persistently while income inequality…
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Is post-growth economics policy-relevant?
Economics tends to get particular attention from policymakers compared to other social sciences – or even the sciences broadly. An economic perspective is less likely to be overlooked in policymaking than, for example, environmental or social justice perspectives. Arguably, economics is a politically and culturally privileged lens on the world. Economics seems very comfortable with…
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Valtionvelka ei ole aikapommi
Suomalaiset ovat huolissaan valtionvelasta. Yksi velkaan liitetty konkreettinen huoli on, että velan hinta nousee velan määrän kasvaessa. Velan määrä taas on kasvanut pitkään ja voi pompahtaa jonkin odottamattoman kriisitilanteen iskiessä, minkä vuoksi velkakantaan halutaan puskuria. Hiljattain huoli velan kustannusten noususta oli yksi yleinen perustelu “velkajarrulle”. Jarru on erityisen dramaattinen velkahuolien seuraus. Se ilmeisesti ohjaa tulevia…
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Can we have a welfare state without growth? Yes, no, and yes.
When people learn that I research post-growth economy, a common first question I hear is “can we have a welfare state without growth?” Because the question is very blunt, high-level, and abstract, it feels awkward to answer. Still, the question is obviously valid and highly relevant to policy discourse, so it should be answered in…
No Fun Allowed 