Deep Economy
by Bill McKibben
A Review by
Wayne Hayes
11/18/2014
V. 2.0 | Build #11
Deep Economy by Bill McKibben
4/9/2015
Source: Deep
Economy web site
Professor Wayne Hayes
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Purpose
The intent of this presentation is
to guide the student through
Deep Economy by Bill McKibben.
The author brings a subtle design to the book.
Try to grasp his messages.
He starts with a vigorous critique of economic growth
and moves to localism and civil society organizations
as an alternative to economic globalization.
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These themes
build an eco-economy.
1. Questioning growth derived from exports
2. Development > growth: Do better with less.
3. Promoting local economies around diversity and
within Nature.
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Notice the Anthropocene and the
Age of Accelertion.
Chapter 1, After Growth, begins with the steam
engine and the invention of the idea of economic
growth in the late 18th century, which we know as
the Anthropocene.
McKibben introduces the equivalent of the Age of
Acceleration after World War II on page 7.
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TINA and its antidotes soon follow.
There is No Alternative (or TINA) was the
prevailing “empire of the mind” (p. 9, 10). The
response cited included Limits to Growth and
Small is Beautiful.
McKibben summarizes his response on pages
11 and 12. Also see pages 35, 38, and 41.
We will discuss in class.
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Not everyone is happy
with the economy.
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Not everybody approves of
capitalism, either.
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Hayes Economist, 4/7/2011
Source: Capitalism’sProfessor
Waning Wayne
Popularity,
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Nor is everyone optimistic
about their future.
Pew Research Global Attitudes Project, October 9, 2014
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McKibben offers a short course in
ecological economics.
• McKibben assails the macro-economics of
growth. Don’t confuse Gross Domestic Product
with well-being.
• He notes the side-effects not counted in market
transactions, the externalities.
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Context: Cosmopolitan Localism
To think of Bill McKibben as parochial because he eats locally, as in
chapter two, would miss his point. He starts in Vermont, but ends up
in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, and China. He goes global with
the simple lessons of local economies. He brings to life many of the
themes that combine ecology, economics, community, and ethics.
That is what you should take away here.
Remember the quote from Wendell Berry that explained that the
work of sustainability is small and humble. McKibben
demonstrates that point --- and dedicates this unpretentious book to
his friend, Wendell Berry.
McKibben claims that community and localization provide the
antidote to economic growth based on globalization.
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Context of Deep Economy
1. Questioning the systemic imperative to growth is fundamental to
World Sustainability. We have questioned economic growth and
identified much of the global crisis on the dynamics of growth.
The Limits to Growth implicitly provides an underlying
alternative paradigm.
2. More is not always Better, a pivot basic to Deep Economy. We
must distinguish between qualitative development and physical
growth, a basic tenet of the economics underlying sustainability.
3. McKibben will artfully connect the global with the local and the
Global North with the Global South. He will argue strongly for
decentralized economic activity within a durable economy.
McKibben does not use the term, but this is all about world
sustainability.
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Economic Alchemy
"How can the economy be harnessed to serve sustainability? What
makes this question so ironic is that the growth in the physical scale
of the economy under the prevailing regime of economic
globalization has depleted resources, destroyed ecosystems,
overwhelmed natural waste disposal sinks, waged war on subsistence
cultures, and produced shocking maldistribution of wealth and
income. How, then, can the economy be turned around to reinforce
sustainable development rather than to destroy ecosystems, resource
endowments, and indigenous cultures? This alchemy must be resolved
to promote sustainability."
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Economic Alchemy (continued)
McKibben contributes toward that alchemy. He challenges headon the consensus around and the ideology of economic growth, the
mantra of economic globalization. He charts another path, one based
on local economies and community.
Only by getting through the book to its conclusions can the reader
appreciate the vision and the deeper analysis that lies hidden by
McKibben in this engaging book.
Keep an open mind and make the vital connections.
Questioning growth
McKibben offers three objections to the standard economistic
treatment of growth, all of which should be familiar to you:
1. The alleged gains of growth (to the extent that they really exist)
not only go to the elites but fail to benefit the majority. This raises
questions of inequality and of insecurity.
2. The ecological limits to growth are mounting: resources are being
depleted, sinks are overwhelmed (e.g., CO2), and carrying
capacity exceeded. This defines the condition of overshoot.
3. Significantly, economic wealth does not produce happiness or
fulfillment -- growth is overrated on its own terms: "growth is no
longer making us happy" (1). This assertion is basic to Deep
Economy and should be essential to what you take away from this
book.
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Themes in Deep Economy
Note some of the contrasts implied in the book:
• From globalization to localization (but with markets)
• From mass society, mass production, mass consumption to local
communities within bio-regions at an appropriate scale
• From hyper-individualism to cosmopolitan civic engagement
• From exclusive emphasis on private property to what is shared,
the commons
• From political exclusivity to inclusivity around direct democracy,
such as town meetings
• From high levels of externalities to low social costs through
community involvement that negotiates big decisions
• From export maximization to a diverse local and regional
economy that directly serves the local population.
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Listen to Bill McKibben
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Discuss:
The lessons from Deep Economy can be liberating. McKibben
observes that "greater wealth no longer makes us happier" (2).
You can lead a satisfying and meaningful life without coveting riches.
You can live well and lead a life of consequence.
This essential insight opens up opportunities and possibilities.
Ask yourself: How does this insight affect me?
Let’s pause to talk about this insight.
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Ch. 1: After Growth: main points
1. Growth is a historical invention made possible by coal and other
fossil fuels that we associate with the Industrial Revolution. We
know this as the Anthropocene. Growth is enshrined in the West,
particularly the USA. (Actually it is the law: The Employment Act
of 1945 -- no depressions, please.The principle of economic
globalization was embedded in the Bretton Woods agreement.)
2. Read carefully the empirical case made on pages 11 and 12.
3. Contrast the positions of these two economists, Larry Summers
(26) and Bob Costanza (27), on how to understand growth.
4. McKibben goes international in making his case, pp. 34-42.
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Ch. 2: The Year of Eating Locally
Bill McKibben tells his story of eating local produce for a year in his
home state, Vermont. Along the way, he critiques the food and
agriculture industries. He learns much from the experience.
He makes a subtle point: You, too, can change your life for the better
by producing some of your own food, eating locally, and eating smart.
Makes sense for the Garden State. Think about it.
McKibben makes food the basis of re-building the economy and the
culture around localism. He enriches our sense of place.
Give attention to his conclusion, p. 94.
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Images of the Intervale CSA,
Burlington, VT
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Intervale, CSA
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Calkin family farm
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Food Day
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Community Supported Agriculture
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Food Depot at Intervale CSA
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Inside Food Depot
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The economic model:
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Ch. 3: All for One, or One for All
Again speaking as a Vermonter, McKibben critiques the erosion of
the valued and unique character of local culture. This contrasts with
his story on eating locally.
He offers data to make the case of the fragmentation and the
dysfunctionality of hyper-individualism, pp. 101-104.
McKibben’s message is simply one of caring and sharing around
community. This is basic to promoting sustainability --- from the
ground up, from local roots.
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The remedy: community, conviviality and
companionship
Contrast the farmers' market or Community Supported Agriculture
(CSA) for community-building. McKibben urges that we turn to the
local for a richer community life and culture that complement
nurturing the local economy.
Too much stuff and not enough companionship, says McKibben. Shift
the emphasis from being a consumer to being a citizen. Participate.
Lead an active, engaged life. This is best done where you live and
work. Connect. Start today.
McKibben bases this chapter on the work of Richard Layard, an
economist, and his research in his book, Happiness. See pages 108112.
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Ch. 4: The Wealth of Communities
McKibben uses the examples of Clear Channel and Walmart to
illustrate how communities are eclipsed, with tangible losses that are
not easy to quantify.
His remedy, again, is the restoration of community through rebuilding local economic activities and institutions. He speaks again as
a loyal and patriotic Vermonter.
He cites the New England town meeting and the intermediate level of
scale between the individual and the community. Scale and localism
resonate throughout this chapter.
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Ch. 5: Durable Future
McKibben goes cosmopolitan here, taking us all the way from
Vermont to China. (What he sees is consistent with and often
informed by Lester Brown.) Some points to consider:
1. Every year, 30 million people leave the rural areas and migrate to
over-crowded cities.
2. Water has become the limit of the carrying capacity to support
growth. Soil is, as well.
3. Every year, China adds the equivalent of the population of
California to its energy generating capacity --- mostly by burning
coal. (We will see later in our course that this is changing.
4. China devotes 10% of GDP to deal with the environmental sideeffects of economic growth and to public health.
5. Since 2005, China has been a net importer of grain.
McKibben asks on page 187: "how on earth do you grow at the rate
the Chinese
are growing and Professor
don't Wayne
collapse?"
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Dasgupta: Wealth as Liquidation
McKibben quotes from the research of Sir Partha Dasgupta , a
University of Cambridge economist, that wealth in developing
countries actually declines with economic growth throughout the
world, page 190. China is the only exception. Dasgupta's research
goes from 1965-1993, capturing the heyday of the economic growth
of the Washington Consensus.
This dramatic point illustrates the failure of the orthodox economistic
growth model.
Of course, inequality increases sharply with economic growth, p 195.
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Other cases
McKibben quickly reviews other cases in which economic
globalization backfires:
• Mexico: corn;
• Uganda: coffee;
• Iraq: seeds.
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Deep Economy is Locally Rooted
McKibben draws again on his experience as a citizen of the world.
His case study of success is found in the Nayakrishi Andolan (New
Farming) movement in Gorasin, Bangladesh.
His report, pages 200-206, culminates with a telling example of local
knowledge used to increase productivity with eco-ecological means.
Technically this community-based subsistence project reduces GDP,
since the food and restoration is not produced for the market. (No
wonder it's called gross economic product!)
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China: Heifer International
McKibben provides another success story, pages 207-210. This comes
from Sichuan province in China, where the NGO Heifer International
donated rabbits and technical advice. The results are stunning. His
take-away lesson:
"It's that there are ways to make workable economies out of almost
anything, if you think small and work through communities" (207).
McKibben calls this "the key task of our time" (210).
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Future Generations
McKibben's next case is Future Generations and its development
expert, Daniel Taylor, from West Virginia. Taylor advocates not
investing money, but mobilizing and investing available human time
and energy through a community-designed work plan.
The case study, pages 211-216, occurs in Afghanistan, certainly a
contested and geopolitically significant country, and in Himalya,
India.
He follows up with Kerala, India, pages 218-221.
McKibben concludes with a contrast of the economic model of the
USA versus that of Europe, one worthy of some consideration,
especially as we struggle through our epic recession today.
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Happiness Index
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Afterword
The concluding chapter begins with some of the themes found earlier
in our course in Brown, Plan B 4.0:
1. Peak oil;
2. Global warming: McKibben's earlier Death of Nature was a
harbinger;
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Conclusion
The book modestly ends with the essential alchemy, the inversion
within the economy:
"Local economies can play an important role in reducing these (peak
oil and global warming) problems."
McKibben tells us that the path to a durable economy can be sweet
and add joy and fulfillment to our lives. It threatens and risks little.
He has addressed the systemic faults of economic growth: ecocide,
inequality and insecurity, and unhappiness. Small wonder why he
dedicates this insightful little book to Wendell Berry.
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What makes you happy?
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Maslow’s hierarchy of needs:
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So what do you think?
Does McKibben work for you?
What did you get from Deep Economy?
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