FT: Conspicuous consumption can no longer be our economic engine

The capitalist dream of endless growth – just a bit different from today’s reality eh.

Reports of the death of economic growth have been greatly exaggerated — thus far, at least. More than 200 years ago, Thomas Malthus predicted that the earth’s resources would soon fall short of human needs and mass starvation would result. Adam Smith and David Ricardo both shared Malthus’s premise…
People failed to follow Malthus’s advice, which was to restrain their libidinal urges. The world’s population increased sevenfold over the following two centuries. Yet mass starvation did not result. Instead came a period of unprecedented bounty … [For a
few!]
In [] contrast to Malthus’s vision, [] a slowdown need not spell doom… As societies become more affluent, market actors increasingly have the privilege of consigning economic growth to its original function: a formidable tool of human development, rather than an end unto itself.

https://asianpolyglotview.com/2021/07/conspicuous-consumption-can-no-longer-be-our-economic-engine.html