William Rees - The Dangerous Disconnect Between Economics and Ecology 

This is a decade ago and yet not a damned thing has changed. We are not going to solve it, period.

every student of economics should watch this. he's right, we are in denial.

This interview and this man needs to listened to by more people. His "lectures" now that you can find on YT are extremely eye opening.

Americans, do your part and SHARE THIS VIDEO! This conversation happened almost a decade ago, and not an inch progress has been made. It is NOT a coincidence that no U.S. federal politicians are talking about this. They are knowingly smashing this knowledge into the ground with their collective heels, and sneering in our faces. A tsunami of change is coming. Before it does, our current way of life must necessarily come to a grinding halt. Tell your friends.

great conversation, certainly much needed in today's world.

Rees is a pioneer in the field of Ecological Economics. His brilliant mind and down-to-Earth style are refreshing beyond the pale. KUDOS!

Thank you Bill.

We have great beautiful people who are constantly aware of the ecological need and human greed. And each in their own time is trying the best to bring awareness. Pray more n more people not only become aware n start acting now to sustain our beautiful universe. Thank you.

"What's the main message you're trying to put forward?" Too many humans are using too many natural resources and producing too much pollution. "Capital" is a surplus that has value in trade and came about when sedentary agriculture and pastoralism produced the first stationary surpluses: grains, oils, herbs, dried vegetables, dried meat, etc. As surpluses grew due the the high nutritional value of these Capital goods, so grew the populations necessary to grow and process them. That's how we got into this mess. Stress R Us

thanks for the video

One of the most hubristic ideas I've heard is the idea of "absolute decoupling." Those who propose that idea really need to get a grip on how reality actually works.

Wow only 21 comments. This needs to go viral!!!

The fusion power is already on its way and it could definitely improve our life standard, but if the policies of today's economics don't change, then we as humans are getting in for a hell of a spiral ride.

Rees is talking about what Marx called the "metabolic rift" two centuries ago.

Corruption has prevented any action on saving our selves don't say we weren't warned

It should be mentioned that along with all of the suggestions made by Dr. Rees, considerable efforts should be directed at lowering populations. William Ryerson is doing such work, although a recognition of the necessity of community-directed birthrate reduction programs is very rare, and Dr. Ryerson is reduced to doing his best to implement birth control education programs for young women in Africa. Dr. Rees is somewhat more hopeful than myself that international cooperation will occur.

Of course it takes an academic from one of the most beautiful and lush natural places on earth to educate us about our dependence on nature.

Great So True! We need Leadership in Canada! Dr. Williams Rees, Candidate for the Prime Minister Post, soon one may Dream. June 13 2011. Ten years ago. What may we learn? With nods to Hermann Daly. Thank you!

At 14:00 ... I think we can turn this around and get rid of the nasty word 'collective'... I argue that sustainability is an 'individual' problem rather than a collective one. Do a little digging in your own cabinets...look at your own ecological footprint... There are groups of people moving away from all of the madness of the consumer lifestyle, call them zero wasters, DIYers, call them voluntary simplesists, or permies, with their bicycles and tiny homes, gardens and cotton shirts, and homemade soups. No need for a 'collective' solution, tangled in with the love affair between the governments and Industrial interests. Stopping this insane consumption will shrink us down to the one earth that we live upon.

Exactly! :)

The decoupling of economic growth from ecological resources will only end with UP TOP regulation & taxation, instead of trickle down economics, coupled with over regulation of the 99%. Believe it or not, most of the disenfranchised already understand this now, without attending Ivory tower universities we can't afford.

What has happened to the depreciation of durable consumer goods since WWII?

@12:34 in retrospect, that's painful.

Oh!

In 2011 Bill is talking about political change, now in 2021 he's talking about de-growth (population!). Where does that put us in, and approaching 2031? Forward thinkers will be talking about how to survive the then global socio-economic collapse. And 2041? We'll all be fighting to survive extinction. Humanity will not grow a brain, or a conscience any time soon.

Steve keens debt jubilee on an international scale would help tremendously to revamp the middle class, hence free up people to be involved in environmental public works😀

Here is how we do it. Introduce a new Economic Indicator that is not the GDP but is a better indicator of true value. It could be called the Gross Value Product. (GVP) It would be calculated like the GDP but dollar transactions that do not produce anything of true value would not be added in. So the GVP would not include the dollars that flow as a result of Fashion, Pro Sports, Motor Racing, Gambling, Recreational Drugs etc. (Wants) Dollars that flow for purposes of food, shelter, Health Care, Education, Energy, Transportation, etc. (Needs) will be added into the GVP. This could be done in greater detail by setting up a "needs-wants spectrum". According to this classification, things like Art, Entertainment, Recreation could be added in at some percentage. ie dollars that flow for recreation purposes could be added into the GVP at 50%. (If you think this looks too complicated, just look at our present economic model and method of Taxation.) Also, there would be amounts that would be subtracted from the GVP. These would be dollars that circulate because of Crime, Disasters, Car Accidents etc. Also, there are other changes that need to be made, to transform the Economy. Each Sector of the Economy needs to be reexamined. Some Sectors are working well now so don't need changing. Others like "The RealEstate Sector" are not working and need a major renovation. Over time, the new GVP would replace the GDP as the major economic indicator. I have a name for my new system. It is called "Henry Ford Capitalism." (HFC) I call it this because we need to eliminate certain things in our current system that are anti-Capitalism and destructive. These are things like Lobbying, selling short, subsidies on Fossil Fuels, etc. Also, the name, HFC, is less scary to many people. In fact, our present system is only ~50% Capitalism and the new system could also be ~ 50% Capitalism. It is my idea that we need some of the negative feedback loops that are found in the basic structure of our present model. These negative feedback loops make the system somewhat self-regulating and that is a good thing. So... What is the alternative? Huh? How else can we achieve the necessary changes? . . .. . Dictatorship? Yes, this would work but people don't like Dictatorships. See how "Mobilization of the Economy for War" in ~1939 was a Dictatorship, and it worked to achieve the goal. After all, this is the degree of change that we need. Is it not? In a Dictatorship, the Government could stop the manufacture of Fossil Fuel powered vehicles. For example. The Government could order that Coal Power Plants be shut down, as is happening in Germany, today. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. All of these things are possible because the Economy is just something that we fabricated out of thin air. We can make up a new and better one.

Can a sustainable ecology be developed without economics?

Maybe charge for the mining of fossil fuels beneath the earth surface?

I'm officially in the 20 acre club.

cradle to cradle

How many professional sports teams take airplanes across the continent for 1 or 2 games? How many tons of carbon per day does that generate? What's the story with recreational racing of hydrocarbon vehicles. Big denial.

We are just 1 species aswell... lol

Most of my acquaintances are desperate NOT to know. We're not really a rational species, are we? What will we tell our kids when it's all too late?