http://www.crikey.com.au/2009/09/15/richard-farmers-chunky-bits-2/ now with extra source Sun, 12 Feb 2012 01:59:31 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 http://www.crikey.com.au/2009/09/15/richard-farmers-chunky-bits-2/#comment-37656 Leslie Crossley Tue, 15 Sep 2009 03:59:00 +0000 http://www.crikey.com.au/2009/09/15/richard-farmers-chunky-bits-2/#comment-37656 Yawn, Yawn, Yawn! So Richard Farmer thinks that Sarkosy is catching up with Keating - when Herman Daly and others have been way out in front for decades - not to mention the Australia Iinstitute, the New Economics Foundation and dozens of other switched on economists who have been arguing the case for an Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare (ISEW)/Quality of Life Indicators etc. As far as I am aware, no national leader - and certainly not ours - has joined the dots between the Global Financial Crisis/Great Recession and the unsustainability of the growth paragdigm encapsulated in GDP. But ever since the 1950s, the ISEW and comparable real world indices have been declining even while the dizzying ascent of the chimerical GDP has hypnotised business leaders and politicians alike. But even if Sarkosy is coming down to earth, can we expect that Rudd and Swan will be close behind? I fear not, if the self congratulatory rhetoric of the Australian economy's expected 'return to trend growth' is anything to go by. Yawn, Yawn, Yawn! So Richard Farmer thinks that Sarkosy is catching up with Keating - when Herman Daly and others have been way out in front for decades - not to mention the Australia Iinstitute, the New Economics Foundation and dozens of other switched on economists who have been arguing the case for an Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare (ISEW)/Quality of Life Indicators etc. As far as I am aware, no national leader - and certainly not ours - has joined the dots between the Global Financial Crisis/Great Recession and the unsustainability of the growth paragdigm encapsulated in GDP. But ever since the 1950s, the ISEW and comparable real world indices have been declining even while the dizzying ascent of the chimerical GDP has hypnotised business leaders and politicians alike. But even if Sarkosy is coming down to earth, can we expect that Rudd and Swan will be close behind? I fear not, if the self congratulatory rhetoric of the Australian economy’s expected ‘return to trend growth’ is anything to go by.

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