The Jenga economy – there’s only one way it can end

Over the last couple of weeks I’ve been working on a post-growth presentation, a one-stop introduction that explains the limits to growth and what a sustainable future might look like. It needs to be as simple and striking as possible, so I’ve been trying to think of images and phrases that capture the essence of the growth dilemma.

So far I haven’t come up with anything better than the image that’s on the homepage of my other little site, BeyondGrowth.co.uk. Our whole current way of life is playing out like a game of Jenga. The economy must grow. The tower must get taller. It doesn’t matter than it gets less stable with every round, and that it can really only end in collapse. That’s the way the game is played.

Post-growth economics lacks a catchy name, and I don’t have one up my sleeve. Whatever phrase we use has to compete with the very positive growth mantra. Growth is good, right? It’s positive, it’s about progress, and as befits a male-dominated political and economic system, it suggests that mine is bigger than yours.

In fact, growth has such good connotations that some people prefer to use the pseudo-word ‘de-growth’ to mean the opposite. Businesses don’t shrink or deflate or contract, they experience periods of de-growth.

One small way to chip away at the growth edifice is to undermine its language. Hyman Minksy wrote about ‘ponzi economics’, Herman Daly just called it ‘uneconomic growth’. I’ve heard ‘cancerous growth’ or ‘economic bloat’ used, but they’re less pleasant. I’ve heard allusions to bubbles, or to riding a bicycle, because if you slow down you start to wobble. My favourite is still Jenga economics. Alas, it is a registered trademark, so using it too freely may well incur the wrath of some distant toy company.

Anyone got another turn of phrase to descibe either the growth economy or its alternative?

Cross-posted at PostGrowth.org