Economic growth and capital accumulation after Fukushima

Abstract

The article examines the historical origins of the growth discourse in the 20th century. In order to reveal the social contradictions of growth in a capitalist society it then relates economic growth to the accumulation of capital. It then takes the contradiction between unlimited economic growth and the accumulation of capital on the one hand and of limited ecosystems of the planet (planetary bounderies) on the other hand into consideration. Neither neo-classical nor Keynesian economics are appropriate to understand that economic processes necessarily are processes of transforming energy and matter and therefore of changing the nature of Planet Earth. Natural limits of economic growth therefore only come into the horizon of economic reasoning as a shortage caused by external factors (e. g. “peakoil”) or as a catastrophe like the nuclear disaster of Fukushima. The author concludes by asking whether there are opportunities for a de-growth economy in a capitalist framework. Key words Capitalism, accumulation, ecological limits Classificação JEL: P16 e Q32