Sustainable (economic) development: what is it? Is it desirable? Can it be achieved and if so, how?

Given the current economic challenges, the desirability of achieving sustainable development has come to the fore. This chapter outlines and discusses contemporary concepts of sustainable development, paying most attention to different criteria that have been proposed for achieving sustainable economic development. Most current economic conceptions of sustainable economic development are shown to be imprecise and can be in conflict. Lack of attention to empirically measuring and examining the coefficient of concern of current generations for the well-being of future generations is identified as a major shortcoming of current debates about sustainable development. Conditions (weak and strong), which it is claimed must be satisfied to achieve sustainable economic development, are considered, before examining the merit of the three-pillar concept, which requires economic, social and ecological sustainability to be simultaneously satisfied. Although the three-pillar concept does have significant limitations, it is contended that it can be a useful guide to policy formation. Other topics covered include the role of different forms of capital in contributing to sustainable economic development. The measurement of the stock of the different forms of capital (especially social capital) is found to be problematic. Nevertheless, all these forms of capital have important influences on the sustainability of economic development, or the lack of it. Several issues involving poverty and (economic sustainability) are raised. These include open access to the use of natural resources and the social cohesiveness (embedding) of some social groups which makes it difficult for them to escape from poverty, for example, by migrating. Examples are given. Both open access to natural resources and the nature of the social capital of some social groups may result in these groups being caught in a poverty trap. An additional subject explored is the effect of labour mobility on the conservation of natural resources.