The Economics of Arrival: Ideas for a Grown-Up Economy

321 Pages·2019·7.147 MB·English

by  Katherine Trebeck, Jeremy Williams

THE ECONOMICS OF ARRIVAL
Ideas for a grown-up economy
Katherine Trebeck and Jeremy Williams
First published in Great Britain in 2019 by
Policy Press North America office:
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The right of Katherine Trebeck and Jeremy Williams to be identified as authors of
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and Policy Press disclaim responsibility for any injury to persons or property resulting
from any material published in this publication.
Oxfam contributed some funding and research time to the development of this book.
The views contained in the book are those of the authors and do not necessarily
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“With their concept of ‘Arriving’, the authors
provide fodder for exciting debate on humanity’s most
important project, the search for well-being alternatives
that will help make peace with the earth.”
Ashish Kothari, Kalpavriksh
“A compassionate guide to shifting gear, from an
economy based on pursuit of growth to one that can
discover the joy of what it has already achieved. We
need this book.”
Neva Goodwin, Tufts University
“With its invitation to make ourselves at home in the
world, The Economics of Arrival celebrates the pioneers
and projects that show the new world emerging through
the cracks of the old.”
Hunter Lovins, president and founder of
Natural Capitalism Solutions
“A must read for anyone who cares about social justice,
the future of the biosphere and our place in it. Trebeck
and Williams challenge us to think about what we
owe to future generations and raise serious questions
about pursuing economic growth as an end goal. An
important and timely book worthy of a broad audience
and vibrant discussion.”
Tim Di Muzio, University of Wollongong
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Contents
List of figures, table and boxes vi
List of abbreviations vii
About the authors viii
Acknowledgements ix
Foreword by Kate Raworth xi
Preface xiv
one Introduction 1
two The fruits of growth 11
three Are the fruits of growth beginning to rot? 18
four Stockholm Syndrome 57
five Rushing past our stop 65
six Embracing Arrival and making ourselves at home 71
seven What we might find in making ourselves at home 94
eight Arrival and making ourselves at home in the real world 140
nine Are we nearly there yet? 172
ten From individual initiatives to system change 180
eleven Choosing Arrival 205
twelve Conclusion 213
Appendix: further reading 215
Notes 219
References 239
Index 293
v
List of figures, table and boxes
Figures
1a The Great Acceleration: Earth system trends 12
1b The Great Acceleration: socio-economic trends 13
2 Fulfilment curve: 1 54
3 Doughnut 73
4 Fulfilment curve: 2 112
5 Rewards to GDP 176
6 Life expectancy across income 176
7 GDP per capita against CO2 emissions 177
8 GDP against ecological footprint 177
Table
1 Components and underpinnings of a good life 81
Boxes
1.1 ‘Third world’ poverty at home 2
3.1 Debt: a mirage of growth? 36
3.2 Expanding the market-places 45
3.3 Considering population 54
4.1 Political pursuit of growth 62
6.1 Permanent recession? 76
6.2 Planning for the long term 88
8.1 Employee-owned companies 154
8.2 Slowing down to make ourselves at home 164
10.1 Moving miners: why Rio Tinto responded to Indigenous 188
demands
10.2 Alternatives to GDP 200
vi
List of abbreviations
CEO chief executive officer
EU European Union
GDP Gross Domestic Product
GHG greenhouse gases
GPI Genuine Progress Indicator
IMF International Monetary Fund
NHS National Health Service
OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and
Development
ONS Office for National Statistics
PB participatory budgeting
SDG Sustainable Development Goal
SPI Social Progress Index
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About the authors
Jeremy Williams is an independent writer and campaigner. He
studied journalism and international relations and specialises in
communicating social and environmental issues to a mainstream
audience. He has worked on projects for Oxfam, RSPB, WWF,
Tearfund and many others, and is a co-founder of the Postgrowth
Institute. His award-winning website (makewealthhistory.org)
was ranked Britain’s number one green blog in 2018.
Katherine Trebeck is a researcher and advocate for a new
economic paradigm and is based in Scotland. She has many
years’ experience, including as Knowledge and Policy Lead for
the Wellbeing Economy Alliance and over eight years for Oxfam
GB. She has a PhD in Political Science from the Australian
National University and honorary posts with the University of
Strathclyde and the University of the West of Scotland. Her work
has ranged from construction of a new measure of progress for
Scotland to rapporteur for Club de Madrid’s Shared Societies
and Sustainability project.
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Acknowledgements
We never really intended to write a book. Not at first. It
happened almost by accident, one idea following another. But
here it is, and we have many people to thank for pushing us a
little further, asking us challenging questions and encouraging
us to keep going.
Many of those people are at Oxfam, and we’re particularly
grateful to Emily Gillingham for her help in contacting
publishers, to Deborah Hardoon for the charts and statistics in
Chapter Nine, to Nick Byrer and Irene Guijt and all Oxfamers
who believed in the importance of the book and its contribution
to a debate that has enormous relevance to the lives of people
living in poverty.
Thanks to all of those who read and commented on early
drafts, including Andrew Cumbers, Lorenzo Fioramonti,
Andrew Goudie, John Magarth, Franziska Mager, Ruth Mayne,
Hayley Richards, Franchesca Rhodes, Alberto Sanz Martins,
Rebecca Sutton, Nikki van der Gaag, Pearl Van-Dyck, and
Kerry Willis. Huge gratitude to Tim Di Muzio and the several
anonymous reviewers whose critique made the book stronger.
Thanks especially to Cylvia Hayes and Mick Blowfield, whose
work helped inform some of the case studies.
Like so many others, we owe a certain debt to Roanne Dods, a
woman who spent her career supporting the creativity of others.
Cancer took her before we finished the first draft, but her early
enthusiasm for the idea gave us the confidence to expand our
ambitions for the book.
The whole business of dealing with publishers is a little nerve
wracking, but we feel like we landed on our feet with Policy
Press. Our commissioning editor, Paul Stevens, was supportive
and positive from the start, and we’re grateful for his guidance
through an unfamiliar process.
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