Artigo

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A Test on the Perpetual Economic Growth Hypothesis
1 and 1,2
1 Graduate Energy Program - University of São Paulo (PPGE-USP). Corresponding Author. Email Address: [e-mail]. Tel.: (55) (11) 3091-2585
2 Institute of Energy and Environment - University of São Paulo (IEE-USP)
Abstract
This paper presents an analysis of the belief in perpetual economic growth. The main aim is to explore the opposition between weak and strong sustainability paradigms, resorting to testable propositions. Rather than assuming that perpetual economic growth is impossible, assumptions adopted by the neoclassical perspective are used to generate testable assertions. The test results indicate that the expectations of the so-called weak sustainability are not supported by available evidence.
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It is well known that there is profound divergence between neoclassical and ecological economics concerning the natural capital substitutability1. This divergence has been identified as an opposition between weak and strong sustainability (Neumayer, 2003; Castro, 2004). The supporters of weak sustainability argue that from the economic point of view there is no difference between natural capital and other types of capital. Meanwhile, the supporters of strong sustainability, based on thermodynamic considerations, argue that natural capital cannot authentically be replaced. While proponents of weak sustainability view natural capital from the perspective of monetary or monetizable values, advocates of strong sustainability perceive natural capital as being low entropy resources without which the economic system cannot operate.
If properly addressed, the clash between strong and weak sustainability may enlighten the role that social mechanisms of nature appropriation have played in the reproduction of the capitalist economic system. In fact, the huge gap between the magnitude