Considering externalities and damning infinite growth

The idea of growth – infinite growth on a finite planet – is repeatedly damned by Kerryn Higgs in her new book: “Collision Course: Endless Growth on a Finite Planet”.

Infinite growth brings with it consequences the world is unable to bear.

Considering externalities, she writes:

“Perhaps the most pressing externality in the second decade of the twenty-first century is the emission of carbon dioxide and methane from as great range of human activities.

“Not only has the market failed to dampen these down – global emissions grow at an increasing rate every year – but the corporations controlling the world economy resist the process.

“Global warming was reckoned by the economist Nicholas Stern, who wrote the UK report on the costs of a response, to be “greatest and widest-ranging market failure ever seen” – where the market reflects neither true environmental, not true economic costs.”