Growth dependency in the welfare state | Journal Paper
Modern economies rely on economic growth for stability and prosperity, but this dependence is ecologically unsustainable. Understanding growth dependency is crucial. This paper proposes a sector-led framework to transform these reliances and disrupt their inevitability.
NZ International Science Festival
The New Zealand International Science Festival hosted Prof Jackson this year with the support of the British Council New Zealand and the Pacific. He is joined by the Director of the Centre For Sustainability, Caroline Orchinson, for this evening talk.
Echoes of immortality: Art and the Wellbeing Economy
Sustainability is the art of living well within the ecological limits of a finite planet. Art is more than an instrument in this project. It’s the very nature of it.A talk delivered by Tim Jackson for the Wellbeing Economy Alliance Ireland Hub, March 2023.
Degrowth can work—here’s how science can help | Nature Article
Wealthy countries can create prosperity while using less materials and energy if they abandon economic growth as an objective. This Nature comment piece together with Jason Hickel, Giorgos Kallis, Julia Steinberger and more is laying out the key challenges of a just post-growth transition.
Economic Growth—can we ever have enough? | BBC Radio 4 Analysis
As the twin storms of economic turmoil and worsening climate change grip the the world, BBC Radio 4 Analysis examines the future of economic growth. Does it offer a route out of economic malaise, or have its benefits reached a ceiling for developed countries?
Mum, Will the Planet Die Before I Do? | Climate parenting podcast series with CUSP
In an exciting new partnership with Corner Shop Media Productions, Parents for Future UK and Zero Carbon Guildford, CUSP is co-sponsoring a new weekly podcast series hosted by seasoned journalists Babita Sharma and Katy Glassborow. Mum, Will the Planet Die Before I Do? explores our role as parents and carers in tackling the climate crisis.
What happens when investment firms take over UK care homes | Report and Briefing Paper
Through a series of in-depth interviews with care workers Christine Corlet Walker et al explore the impact of investment firms on working conditions and quality of care in UK care homes. Combined with an analysis of care company accounts generating insights into the impacts of financialisation on the UK care sector, the report shows how investment firms are using extreme strategies to reduce staffing levels and cut costs in the name of profit, with appalling consequences for care.
Why UK’s ‘treasured free-market economy’ will not achieve net zero
Whatever the UK government says it’s doing—and not doing—one thing is clear, Tim Jackson writes, the “treasured free-market economy” is never going to compensate for our failure to insulate people’s homes against the cold, and the future against the ravages of climate change.
A critique of the marketisation of long-term residential and nursing home care | Journal Paper
Long-term care systems across countries within the OECD have undergone a progressive marketisation and financialisation in recent decades. In this Personal View, we argue that the accomapnying neoliberal market values make poor guiding principles for the care sector, identifying the dysfunctional dynamics that arise as a result, and reflecting on the clinical implications of each, with a focus on facility-based care.
Book launch: Wie wollen wir leben?—Tim Jackson in conversation with Barbara Unmüßig
On 18 October 2021, Tim Jackson talks to Barbara Unmüßig, director of the Heinrich Böll Foundation, about the German edition of his latest book Post Growth—’Wie wollen wir leben?’ (Oekom, 2021). The book is not just a manifesto for system change, but an invitation to rekindle a deeper conversation about the nature of the human condition.
Tackling growth dependency—the case of adult social care | Report and Briefing
Paper by Christine Corlet Walker and Tim Jackson, presenting a systematic approach to identifying, analysing and transforming growth dependencies in the welfare state. Using adult social care as the case study, the paper explores how growing demand, rising costs and rent seeking can create growth dependencies.
Circular Metabolism | Podcast
The Circular Metabolism podcast is hosted by Aristide Athanassiadis from Metabolism of Cities. In his podcast he interviews thinkers, researchers, policy makers and practitioners to better understand the metabolism of our cities and how to reduce their environmental impact in a socially just and context-specific way.
Welfare systems without economic growth | Review paper
Welfare systems across the OECD face many combined challenges, with rising inequality, demographic changes and environmental crises likely to drive up welfare demand in the coming decades. Economic growth is no longer a sustainable solution to these problems. It is therefore imperative that we consider how welfare systems will cope with these challenges in the absence of economic growth. This paper by Christine Corlet Walker, Angela Druckman together with Tim Jackson reviews the literature tackling this complex problem.
Worker wellbeing and productivity in advanced economies: Re-examining the link | Journal paper
Labour productivity is a key concept for understanding the way modern economies use resources and features prominently in ecological economics. Ecological economists have questioned the desirability of labour productivity growth on both environmental and social grounds. In this paper we aim to contribute to ongoing debates by focusing on the link between labour productivity and worker wellbeing.
Podcast | Curb excess capitalism to save nature |@BBC5Live with Tim Jackson
The possibility that we can live better, healthier and more fulfilling lives without the relentless consumption that damages the planet was one of the points of discussion when BBC presenter Nihal Arthanayake invited CUSP Director Tim Jackson and Policy Exchange analyst Benedict McAleenan to discuss the implications of Sir David’s remarks on Radio 5 Live’s Afternoon Edition today. Good lives don’t have to cost the earth. It’s time for capitalism to recognise that.
The Transition to a Sustainable Prosperity | Journal Paper by Tim Jackson and Peter Victor
This paper presents a stock-flow consistent (SFC) macroeconomic simulation model for Canada. Contrary to the widely accepted view, the results suggest that ‘green growth’ (in the Carbon Reduction Scenario) may be slower than ‘brown growth’. More importantly, we show (in the Sustainable Prosperity Scenario) that improved environmental and social outcomes are possible even as the growth rate declines to zero.
Video | How can we build back better after COVID? | Panel discussion w/ Tim Jackson, Mariana Mazzucato, Michael Marmot and David King
Set out to engage MPs across the political spectrum, the online discussion was chaired by Krishnan Guru-Murthy (Channel 4), and expertly deliberated on the prospects for a socially and environmentally just economic recovery—which takes into account not only the need to prevent the worst of climate breakdown, but does so in a way that sustainably strengthens the wellbeing of people. Discussants were CUSP director Prof Tim Jackson, Prof Mariana Mazzucato (UCL), Sir Prof Michael Marmot (UCL) and Sir David King (former Government Chief Scientist).
Let’s be less productive—Restoring the value of care | Opinion piece for The New York Times
The challenges facing the world and the UK today are unprecedented. A global health emergency, a global climate crisis, and a catastrophic loss of biodiversity are undermining the basis for future prosperity in the UK and across the world. This article, written for The New York Times in 2012, speaks to the theme of restoring the value of decent work to its rightful place at the heart of society.
