A Note: De-Growth Debate and New Scientific Analysis of Economic Growth

Abstract

This article is a theoretical note on de-growth debate. The article includes an analysis of economic growth and alternative growth paths. The article is focused on the concepts of de-linking, re-linking and de-growth. We connected linking analysis (de-linking and re-linking) analytically to the de-growth debate. On the basis of our framework, special cases of de-growth in the linking process relate to strong re-linking, weak re-linking and recessive de-linking. This kind of theoretical approach helps us to define the special nature of de-growth. Key finding of us is that only the de-growth case of recessive de-linking meets the condition of environmental sustainability. However, this case does not fulfil the criteria of sustainable development defined in the WCSD context. In the linking process, the WCSD conditions of sustainable development are met in the strong de-linking process only. In our analytical framework, the theoretical concepts of de-growth and sustainable development seem to conflict by definition.