I've little interest in economic matters, but hopefully someone can answer this for me.

Why is growth such a Good Thing? I'm well aware that I'm showing a huge amount of ignorance here, but I can't seem to get my head around the idea that an economy that isn't growing (it's usually labelled "stagnant", I think) is somehow undesirable.

If economic growth is indirectly linked (and I've no idea whether it is or not) to population growth and new land development through business premises and housing estates, surely it can't just continue indefinitely? Looking at it from an environmental point of view, I'm appalled by how much of our country's land (not just green belt) is being tarmaced for out of town shopping centres and housing estates.

What am I missing, here? I need someone to explain it to me in layman's terms (use crayons if you like).

No,Ant, I don't think you're missing anything. I think you're right.
It would be useful if people could see the difference between pointless growth and useful growth----because I don't think Humans will ever "stand still "---so I think that what they have to try to do is to suss out what's worth the effort and what isn't.
Two examples,but I don't know if you'll agree :-
1]They're going to shut down the main railway line soon between Manchester and Carlisle for a good few weeks so that passengers can cut about 20minutes off their journeys from Carlisle to London[well,they hope ! ]. What the hell they can do with the extra 20 minutes is anybody's guess. ; probably sit in a snarl up on Euston Road.
2] For the last 20 years or so nearly every company,has rushed to computerise themselves;spent billions of pounds and millions of people lost jobs and probably now work in call centres. Why ? To save all that paperwork.Has it saved paperwork ?If it has ,I've never noticed.
These are only 2 examples and I'm sure there are better ones---but the sentiment is the same----bigger !! faster !! more !!
Half the fun of travelling used to be looking at places you went through. It isn't now.
They're just beginning to realise ,too, that it's much more pleasant for people to live at ground level in individually -styled houses than in huge blocks of flats. I wonder how many billions they spent on blocks of flats they've had to pull down before their sell-by date ?
Well,it's only money----ours,unfortunately !

Economists love stuff that can be measured. If they can measure certain changes in the parameters of the economic system then they get all excited. If they can categorise them as 'growth' they almost wet their pants with glee.

The one thing that matters and that's almost impossible to measure is how happy we are with our lives.

Using economic growth as a measure of the success or otherwise of a society is a very blunt instrument. To start with what 'growth' are you measuring?

If you measure 'growth of High Street sales' then you're looking at spending, probably backed by borrowing. Does an increase then mean that borrowing is a good thing becaue it leads to growth?

Growth in production? How many cars do we all need? Do we have to trade in our computers, stereos, VHS recorders to get new ones just because we can? If we behaved in a more sensible and less market driven manner then we'd certainly see less growth in the production of wasteful toys.

Money Supply? If that grows then the currency devalues, we get inflation. Which is another way of saying that 'The value of bread is the same as it was yesterday, but now you have to work more to get it because we messed up the economy.

The time is approaching for us to start re-connecting value to goods and services at a very fundamental level. Ideas for measuring 'wellness' in a society might be :

Is everyone housed to a reasonable standard?
Can people get their daily requirements in food, medicine and some luxuries without borrowing money?
Is crime dealt with in an open and effective manner?
Is the children's education adequate to prepare them for the society they grow up in?
Is providing social value through your work, profession, vocation or hobbies backed up by some sort of sensible remuneration.

If anyone gets the chance, read and think about some of the economic ideas in 'The Shockwave Rider' by John Brunner. Science fiction with some interesting ideas about how to potentally run a society.

Joe

Economics is absolutely out of my domain, however, the purpose of the economy is happiness for all. As long as we think that if we have more money we can be more happy, economic growth is natural.
But, as you said, environmental point of view is getting more important for economic growth nowadays. I just had a web education for environmental policy at my company. It said that Sustainable Growth is required and new products or whatever will be evaluated on Environmental Quality.

Economic growth, population explosion, environmental destruction, the gap between rich and poor, random words come up to me but sorry I can't organize them. :(

I think the key is whether we can live penuriously but contentedly for all.