Community Environmental Council Hub
1219 State St, Santa Barbara, CA
Most economists believe that growth is the surest path to better lives. This has proven to be one of humanity’s most powerful and dangerous ideas. It shapes policy across the globe, but it fatally undermines the natural ecosystems necessary to sustain human life. How did we get here? In The Invention of Infinite Growth (University of Chicago Press, 2025), environmental historian Christopher F. Jones takes us through two hundred and fifty years of economic thinking to examine the ideal of growth, its powerful influence, and the crippling burdens many decisions made in its name have placed on us all.
Jones argues that the pursuit of growth has never reflected its costs, because economists downplay environmental degradation. Both accessible and eye-opening, The Invention of Infinite Growth offers hope for the future. We can still create new ideas about how to promote environmental sustainability, human welfare, and even responsible growth, without killing the planet and ourselves.