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Piketty and the Growth Dilemma Revisited in the Context of Ecological Economics

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  • Morgan, Jamie

Abstract

Piketty's Capital has provoked considerable debate regarding inequality. The existence of increasing inequality creates a challenge for ecological economics. In this paper we set out some of the problems inherent in Piketty's approach and how they are addressed from the point of view of ecological economics. We use Jackson and Victor's response as a point of departure to make several points. Piketty's work involves an unreconciled inconsistency between his laws and the institutional context, which becomes problematic when one starts to think about ‘inevitability’. He simply assumes away ecological problems to make future forecasts for inequality. As such, his forecasts are undermined, since ecological issues are fundamental to any viable future economy. Furthermore, Piketty effectively reproduces (rather than contests) the mainstream practice of delegating ecological issues to a sub-discipline. Jackson and Victor, meanwhile, focus on the mainstream economic aspect of Piketty's work, and construct a model to contest a model. In so doing, they provide an ideational response to what is also a problem of ideological frameworks. Though it can be important to contest an idea, they inadvertently, through family resemblance, contribute to the reproduction of the problematic position of ecological concerns within dominant ways of conceiving economics.

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  • Morgan, Jamie, 2017. "Piketty and the Growth Dilemma Revisited in the Context of Ecological Economics," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 169-177.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:136:y:2017:i:c:p:169-177
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2017.02.024
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    Cited by:

    1. Clive L. Spash, 2019. "Time for a Paradigm Shift: From Economic Growth and Price-Making Markets to Social Ecological Economics," SRE-Disc sre-disc-2019_07, Institute for Multilevel Governance and Development, Department of Socioeconomics, Vienna University of Economics and Business.
    2. Jamie Morgan, 2021. "Learning to Treat Our Natural World Realistically Through Unlearning Mainstream Economics? A Commentary on the Recent Work of Peter Söderbaum," Economic Thought, World Economics Association, vol. 10(1), pages 14-31, July.
    3. François, Martin & Mertens de Wilmars, Sybille & Maréchal, Kevin, 2023. "Unlocking the potential of income and wealth caps in post-growth transformation: A framework for improving policy design," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 208(C).
    4. Clive L. Spash & Philippe Méral & Olivier Petit, 2023. "A journey into the foundations and transformative implications of social ecological economics: An interview with Clive Spash," Post-Print hal-04192474, HAL.
    5. Spash, Clive L., 2020. "A tale of three paradigms: Realising the revolutionary potential of ecological economics," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    6. Mauerhofer, Volker, 2019. "An introduction and overview on law, politics and governance: Institutions, organizations and procedures for Ecological Economics," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 165(C), pages 1-1.

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