Title: Sustainability – implications for growth, employment and consumption

Authors: Richard Sanders

Addresses: Queensland Department of Natural Resources and Water, GPO Box 2454, Brisbane, Queensland 4001, Australia

Abstract: The aim of this paper is to raise some key unaddressed research questions about sustainability. It is my contention that the research necessary to solve the sustainability problem is just not being done. This is because most of the research and policy effort is couched in the context that the sustainability problem can be solved within the current economic context. It does that by asserting that the sustainability problem is essentially an externality problem that can be corrected through getting the prices right and/or regulation/management. My research and analysis suggests that sustainability may not be achievable within the current economic context. Unfortunately, very little of the sustainability research effort is directed outside of the box of the economic orthodoxy.

Keywords: sustainability; complexity; ecological economics; employment; growth; consumption; new paradigms; economic orthodoxy.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEWE.2006.011757

International Journal of Environment, Workplace and Employment, 2006 Vol.2 No.4, pp.385 - 401

Published online: 20 Dec 2006 *

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