The compulsion to grow

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Mathias Binswanger (2008)

The compulsion to grow: Why the economy has to keep growing, even if we have enough is a book by the Swiss economist Mathias Binswanger , which was published by Wiley-VCH Verlag in 2019 .

Contents overview

Binswanger argues in the book that for a long time economic growth was linked to a promise of salvation for a better future, which has largely come true. But recently this promise of salvation has increasingly turned into a compulsive act. For a growing number of people in rich countries, more material prosperity is no longer a credible promise of an even better future life. That is why growth is rarely justified with this argument. Instead, we hear that a country like Germany is lagging behind other countries with little or no growth, becomes unattractive as a business location, loses innovative strength or loses jobs. But we have to keep growing in order to remain economically successful, even if we don't want any more material prosperity. Binswanger therefore speaks of an obligation to grow .

Mathias Binswanger's book shows where exactly this pressure to grow comes from. Ultimately, it is based on the fact that the corporate sector of an economy can only make profits in the long term if GDP growth also occurs. And profits, in turn, are necessary for companies to survive in the longer term. There are only two alternatives: waxing or shrinking. As soon as the economy stops growing, companies begin to make more losses and layoffs occur, which in turn leads to losses for other providers. To avoid such a downward spiral, growth is needed. The compulsion to grow does not consist in the fact that some greedy capitalists force us to produce more and more production with the whip, but in avoiding the otherwise threatening downward spiral.

However, Binswanger does not propagate unrestrained growth, because he is very aware of the massive problems that this causes. In the case of stock corporations, however, more moderate growth is hardly possible, because the aim is to increase shareholder value as much as possible. Therefore, moderate growth needs alternative forms of business such as cooperatives or foundations. In today's economic system, however, it will not work entirely without growth. Growth is an intrinsic part of a capitalist economy as it has developed since the industrial revolution at the end of the 18th century.

reception

In the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , Jochen Zenthöfer writes that Binswanger has presented a pamphlet with The Compulsive Growth that is far removed from the usual thought patterns and that is precisely why it is so stimulating to read. Because even capitalism is not sacrosanct for Binswanger.

The main concern of the author is obviously to reveal the dynamics of the economic system in which we live, says Bernd W. Müller-Hedrich in his review for rezensions.ch . Binswanger also captivates in this book with his razor-sharp analyzes.

In the daily newspaper Ulrike Herrmann compares the uninhibited expanding capitalism with tumors that proliferate until they have destroyed themselves and the organism. Binswanger vividly describes the basic problem that capitalism is only stable as long as it expands. In the end, however, he lost his courage: “Instead of thinking about economic alternatives, he prefers to quote predictions that nature would withstand the unbridled growth into the year 2100. This optimism seems a bit absurd. "

In Ecological Management , Oliver Richters criticizes that Binswanger does not clearly distinguish between accounting and economic profit when it comes to “profits”. Even if the economic profit falls to zero and there is no more accumulation ( zero profit condition ), the companies would still make profits and distribute them . Compared to the growth spiral of his father Hans Christoph Binswanger , who had written of a minimum growth of 1.8%, and an earlier article by Binswanger, in which the minimum growth rate was 0.45%, in the revised model of the book there was only a minimum growth of 0% is necessary, and thus the statement of the compulsion to grow is weakened or it can no longer justify compulsion to grow.

Georg Auernheimer reviews at socialnet that the book is "easy to understand", but lacks an "undisguised view of the problematic consequences of forced growth".

Stefan Lamprecht writes in the Management Journal: Anyone who enjoys thinking about economic issues will enjoy the 300 pages in this book. ... Even if we have enough personal, our economy must continue to grow. This fascinating theoretical work reveals why we cannot simply escape this compulsion. "

literature

  • Mathias Binswanger: The compulsion to grow: Why the economy has to keep growing, even when we have enough. Wiley-VCH. Weinheim 2019, ISBN 978-3-527-50975-1 

Web links

Interviews with Binswanger

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Mathias Binswanger: The compulsion to grow . Wiley, Weinheim 2019, p. 67-99 .
  2. ↑ getabstract: Review of The Compulsive Growth. Retrieved August 12, 2020 .
  3. ↑ Jochen Zenthöfer: More a blessing than a curse. Why economic growth is necessary. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, August 19, 2019.
  4. ↑ Bernd W. Müller-Hedrich: The economy of the awakening of needs. June 20, 2019, accessed August 20, 2020 .
  5. ↑ Ulrike Herrmann: Abwegiger Optimismus. In: Taz on the weekend . November 30, 2019, p. 15 ( online version ).
  6. ↑ Hans Christoph Binswanger: The growth spiral: money, energy and imagination in the dynamics of the market process . Metropolis, Marburg 2006, ISBN 3-89518-554-X .
  7. ^ Mathias Binswanger: Is there a growth imperative in capitalist economies? a circular flow perspective . In: Journal of Post Keynesian Economics . tape 31 , no. 4 , 2009, p. 707-727 , doi : 10.2753 / PKE0160-3477310410 . Preprint as work report No. 1 of the FHNW School of Business .
  8. ↑ Oliver Richters: Review in Ökologisches Wirtschaften No. 3, 2019; also published in the blog post growth , September 3, 2019.
  9. ↑ Georg Auernheimer : Review of October 2, 2019. In: socialnet reviews, ISSN  2190-9245 .
  10. ^ Stefan Lamprecht: Economic growth as an end in itself. In: Management Journal. July 20, 2019, accessed August 28, 2020 .