Why our economic model must change
Why is our economic model all about growth? Is growth the only way for our economic model to be successful? Or is there another economic model that is much more sustainable and less outdated as the one we are living in? A documentary about our economic model and the idea of a new one.
In Doughnut economics by Kate Raworth, we see that markets are inefficient and growth is not the holy grail. It’s time for a new economic model: the doughnut economics. Kate Raworth’s plea for the ‘doughnut economics’ casts doubt on the credo of economic growth for sustainability: there are hard limits to what you can do to the planet. Kate Raworth’s doughnut economics could change our future. Let’s have a look.
Hurray, the economy is growing again! We have done a lot of shopping after the increase of our purchasing power. However, CO2 emissions and inequality are rising just as fast. What can you do about this? The British economist Kate Raworth uses a powerful image for a new circular economy: the doughnut, thus introducing the doughnut economics. Our economic activities should not fly out of the curve but grow within its limits, in an ideal circle.
Is our economic behavior at the service of growth and profit or does it serve man and planet? With that question, economist Kate Raworth, a researcher at the ‘Environmental Change Institute’ in Oxford, set to work. Instead of rising lines and rising graphs, a different ideal image emerged: our economy should function according to the doughnut model.
How that works exactly, Raworth described in the book ‘Doughnut Economics’, which has achieved true cult status among connoisseurs. Raworth’s plea for the ‘doughnut economics’ casts doubt on the credo of economic growth for sustainability: there are hard limits to what you can do to the planet. From the start of your business, you have to think and act circularly. Anyone who undertakes in this way, for example, remains under the ecological ceiling of a maximum of 1.5 degrees Celsius warming of the earth and at the same time sets the minimum wage for employees at a fairer social level.
Using video fragments, various round attributes, and a special table, Kate Raworth shows how our economics can fundamentally be structured differently. With growth, but within the set limits. Or is reality squarer?
Original title: De donut economie
Originally broadcasted by VPRO in 2017.
