Re: Does capitalism really need growth to survive?

["Forstater, Mathew" <ForstaterM@xxxxxxxx>]

Robert Repetto innovated NNP/NNI, which subtracts (or adds as the case
may be) resource depletion from GNP.  I've seen studies of Indonesia and
Costa Rica comparing the numbers.  Indonesia's growth rate in NNP was
around a half or 2/3 of its GNP growth for the period.  More
importantly, it shows that the country may have been on an unsustainable
path, since it was destroying the base for future economic development.
See, e.g., Repetto, R. et al. Wasting Assets: Natural Resources in the
National Income Accounts. Washington, D.C.: World Resources Institute,
1989.  My understanding was that Repetto was working on proposals for
adjusting the standard accounts in an official capacity during the
Clinton administration.

NNW is discussed in Goodstein's environmental economics text (Economics
and the Environment, Wiley).  It is defined as:

NNW 	= Total output - costs of growth - depreciation
	= GDP + Non market output
		- externality costs
		- pollution abatement and cleanup costs
		- depreciation of "created capital"
		- depreciation of "natural capital"

GPI is the indicator used by Rethinking Progress
http://www.rprogress.org/

HDI (and its modified indices like the GDI) are used by the UN, and I
believe is based on Sen's work.  http://www.undp.org/hdr2001/faqs.html

When Daly was at the World Bank, his shop did similar work. See, e.g.,
Ahmad, Y.J., S. El-Serafy, and E. Lutz. Environmental Accounting for
Sustainable Development. Washington, D.C.: World Bank, 1989.