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Economic sustainability can be understood as a new way of thinking about the economy

Image: "Parents with açaí in the port of Igarapé", by Railson Wallace, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0

Economic sustainability is addressed by important contemporary authors. Although there is no specific definition for economic sustainability, there are common points in the different approaches.

The concept of economic sustainability brings with it a new ethic that seeks to overcome the belief that the economy is an end in itself, as well as the notion that the human being is an instrument (replaceable and devoid of dignity). The growth preached is qualitative and seeks the well-being of the human being, who becomes the center of the development process. This is how the civilization of being is built.

The human being no longer has a price to endow himself with dignity. Likewise, the regeneration capacity of nature is now considered as a good to be preserved for the continuation of economic activity.

Some authors question the idea of ​​development based only on GDP (gross domestic product), pointing to the need to include other factors such as social well-being and concern for ecosystems in economic planning, which would be one of the best ways to develop economic sustainability. Much more than a line to be traversed, economic sustainability and its definition are a universe to be explored through theories and practices.

What is economic sustainability?

Ignacy Sahcs

Economic sustainability - according to economist Ignacy Sachs in his book "Transition Strategies for the 21st Century" - is the efficient allocation and management of resources and a steady flow of public and private investment. According to the author, an important condition for economic sustainability is to overcome the harm generated by external debts and the loss of financial resources in the south, by the terms of trade (relation between the value of imports and the value of exports of a country in a given period) unfavorable, by the protectionist barriers still existing in the North and by the limited access to science and technology.

According to Ignacy Sachs' view, economic sustainability presupposes that economic efficiency must be evaluated in macro-social terms, and not only through the criterion of business profitability of a microeconomic nature. It should be achieved with measures of balanced intersectoral economic development, food security and the capacity for continuous modernization of production instruments.

Amartya Sen and Sudhir Anand

According to authors Amartya Sen and Sudhir Anand, in the article "Human development and economic sustainability", the notion of economic sustainability is often not specified, and seen only as a matter of intergenerational equity. The writers argue that the definition of economic sustainability must include the relationship between distribution, sustainable development, optimal growth and interest rate .

For them, these factors must be developed and taken into account based on the concerns of the present.

The growing concern with "sustainable development" stems from the belief that the interests of future generations should receive the same kind of attention as those of the current generation. We cannot abuse and exhaust our stock of resources, leaving future generations unable to take advantage of the opportunities that we take for granted today, nor can we contaminate the environment, violating the rights and interests of future generations.

The demand for "sustainability" is a universalization of claims applied to future generations. However, according to the authors, this universalism also makes us, in our anxiety to protect future generations, to ignore the claims of today's less privileged. For them, a universalist approach cannot ignore today's underprivileged people in an attempt to avoid deprivation in the future, but must address both present and future people. Furthermore, it is difficult for us to measure and guess what the needs of future generations will be.

For the authors, to the extent that the concern is with the general maximization of wealth, regardless of distribution - there is a serious disregard for individual difficulties, which may be the main reason for the most extreme deprivations. Furthermore, the sustainability obligation cannot be left entirely on the market. The future is not adequately represented in the market - at least, not the distant future - and there is no reason for the common behavior of the market to take care of the obligations of the future. Universalism requires the state to serve as an administrator for the interests of future generations.

Government policies such as taxes, subsidies and regulation can adapt the incentive structure to protect the environment and the global resource base for people who are not yet born. As he noted, there is broad agreement that the state must protect the interests of the future to some degree against the effects of our irrational discounting and our preference for ourselves on our descendants.

Ricardo Abramovay

For the author Ricardo Abramovay, in his book "Far beyond the green economy", economic sustainability must take place on several fronts. The economy must not be guided only by its own growth, but by real results of social well-being and the regeneration capacity of ecosystems. Economic sustainability must recognize a limit of exploitation of ecosystems by society.

According to the author, the prevailing economic thinking of the 20th century - that technologies and human intelligence would always be capable of repairing environmental damage - proved to be explicitly wrong. The consequences already felt as a result of climate change are one of the proofs of this mistake. For Abramovay, it is essential that - for the development of society and economic sustainability itself - there is innovation; and it must be linked to the recognition that ecosystems have limits. It is in this sense that sustainability-oriented innovation systems must be developed.

Economic sustainability - which author José Eli da Veiga calls the "new economy" - would be the capacity to develop a social metabolism in which constant regeneration of ecosystem services and sufficient supplies to cover essential human needs coexist.

The author concludes that economic sustainability is closely linked to ethics. The latter being defined as issues relating to good, justice and virtue, it must, therefore, occupy a central space in economic decisions, which imply decisions on how material and energy resources will be used and the organization of the work of the people. Abramovay states that: "the idea of ​​ceaseless growth in production and consumption clashes with the limits that ecosystems impose on the expansion of the productive apparatus.

The second problem is that the real capacity for the functioning of the economy to create social cohesion and to contribute positively to the eradication of poverty has so far been very limited. Even though material production has reached an impressive scale, there have never been so many people in situations of extreme poverty, even though they proportionately represent a smaller portion of the population than at any time in modern history."