Economic models showing how to scale back a developed nation's economy to a point that is sustainable?

Question

I'm not completely sure how to phrase my question. Considering the fact that right now developed nations (at least the U.S.) are using resources quicker than they can be replaced, are there any economic theories or ideas on how to scale down an economy into balance with natural resources in order to create a sustainable.... natural... environment? Is there an ideal birth rate?

Please include names, textbooks, or any other source of information so I can read about whatever you say in more depth.

Let me know if my question isn't clearly stated...

Answer 1

Economists do not build such models. They study how markets work, not technology. Their assumption is that science can solve any technology problems that arise because for the most part they have in the past. With current knowledge there is no way to scale back to a sustainable state without severely impacting the standard of living.

Answer 2

The very last thing you want to do to help the enviroment is to scale back the developed economies.

Only developed economies give two cents about the state of the their enviroment. Starving people eat endangered species. They do so because they are starving. Give them a nice meal or two, and they will start being concerned about protecting the little critter.

The biggest threats to the enviroment come from poor countries. People are poor, so they burn rain forests to plant crops. People are poor, so they exploit natural resources as fast as they can get them to market. Make them rich, and they will start doing things like banning wind farms off their sea-side estates because they spoil the view. Only a country as rich as America would prohibit drilling for oil for the benefit of caribou.

Economically speaking, the niceness of the enviroment is a luxury, meaning (only) that people get interested in it when they have their basic desires met.

Say we want to live without any net impact on the earth? What do we need to do differently? Use solar energy, drive electric cars, recycle everything regardless of the cost, eat hydroponically grown wheat and let all the agricultural land revert to nature? Fine. The only way that will happen is when people get rich enough to care enough to pay for all that stuff.

More than a billion people live on this poor abused Earth on less than a dollar a day. Faced with that kind of material suffering, you expect them to care about the enviroment?

Rich people care more about the enivroment (because they can afford to) and incendently have a whole lot less children.

The best thing that could happen for the enviroment is for India and China to get rich really, really fast.

Answer 3

Whatever TV or websites you are watching and reading, Please Stop.

Economies absolutely do not need to be scaled back.
There are plenty of resources, including the ones that have yet to be innovated or discovered. That is what humans do. We find a way to make our lives better through ingenuity. We do not make our lives better by scaling back the economy.

Henry Ford did not foresee pouring used French Fry grease into his cars. 100 years ago, no one knew what an atom was, much less nuclear power. How many people predicted hydrogen fuel cells 50 years ago?

Have a little faith in human innovation. It is a hell of a lot better than having faith in politicians and government making rules. They have had 1000s of years to gets things right. You see their results across the planet.
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Answer 4

How about letting market forces set prices. Then as resources become more scarce they become more expensive and their use is cut back. Then limit government payments to people who aren't working. If parents are held responsible for the economic cost of their children they will limit the birth rate to a number they can support.

Oh, that would be a free market, and you wouldn't need a bunch of government bureaucrats telling everyone what to do. Politicians wouldn't go for that.