KEY CONCEPTS AND THINKERS

in many areas of life, more and better goods in short, a better quality
of life for all. Anti-growth arguments focus on four main points.

1 Growth may actually reduce quality of life many lifestyles, such as

that of small farmers, become uneconomic as a country grows, and
some people regret their passing. Environmental damage, stress-filled
urban lives, pollution, and hazardous waste are just a few examples
of the undesirable effects of industrial growth. Many things that have
an effect on the quality of life cannot be traded and may disappear
because of growth simple pleasures may be lost to generations
devoted to an economic rat race.

2 Growth encourages inequity the rich save more than the poor, and

these savings are available for investment, a source of growth. Critics
of growth say that the have-nots in society are locked out of many
of the benefits afforded by growth, yet must endure the worst of the
undesirable effects.

3 Growth will use up the world's resources in the 1970s there was

much debate about this, stimulated by a group called the Club of
Rome that predicted dire consequences from continued growth.
Since the 1970s, governments and corporations have become more
sensitive to this issue; new resources have been found, more efficient
technologies developed and conservation measures have been taken.
Most if not all major corporations now try to take an ``eco-friendly''
public relations position. As well as the predictors of doom, there
are also moderates who point to the rapid growth in the developing
world as a problem. In this view, the developing world may run
out of resources by the time they mature enough to need them for
internal consumption.

4 Growth creates artificial dependency traditionally, consumers are

seen as ``sovereign'' in their desires, and markets merely supply what
is wanted. Some growth critics argue that sophisticated marketing
and consumer credit manipulate consumers into becoming perpetu-
ally indebted purchasers of useless items.

Sustained economic growth clearly implies trade-offs with what

might be called ``well-being'' and different nations find different
compromises between the two. Not many people in developed
countries would want growth at any price, but they may have the
luxury of choices that most people in LDCs do not enjoy. In poorer