Publish : 16 Jan 2022, 05:18 PMUpdate : 16 Jan 2022, 05:18 PM
Tim Worstall’s response comes as truly educational with respect to “technical jargon” in economics, which means we can agree to disagree on how such terms as Kuznets Curve and Jevons Paradox can present different meanings in different time and space.
But it seems we agree on a vital point which, fortunately, is not a technical term: timing.
In Worstall's words: “It's (Kuznets Curve) an argument about when. When is a society rich enough that people will be willing to devote that larger portion of their income to having a cleaner environment?”
How long does it take for an individual or a society to become rich enough to spend on a clean environment thus leading to environmental sustainability?
If economists use the concept of the Kuznets Curve as a hypothesis, historians do clearly answer this question: It has not happened yet in world history and is unlikely to do so in the foreseeable future.
We live in an era which produces millionaires in their millions, 5.2 million just in the first year of Covid-19, by some accounts.
Some of them are perhaps driving the latest model Tesla and donning T-shirts of the finest organic cotton -- and some of them may become frequent flyers to the moon.
But has any of this made the planet any more environmentally sustainable?
Has it made the garment workers in Dhaka stitching some of those T-shirts rich enough to afford clean bundles of necessities?
No one needs to master technical jargon of any discipline to see that it’s the goalpost — not the Waiting for Godot — which is key to the conversations here.
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Of curves and paradoxes
The final word in an engaging conversation on environmental sustainability
Tim Worstall’s response comes as truly educational with respect to “technical jargon” in economics, which means we can agree to disagree on how such terms as Kuznets Curve and Jevons Paradox can present different meanings in different time and space.
But it seems we agree on a vital point which, fortunately, is not a technical term: timing.
In Worstall's words: “It's (Kuznets Curve) an argument about when. When is a society rich enough that people will be willing to devote that larger portion of their income to having a cleaner environment?”
This is the crux of my point, too.
What time and whose time are we talking about?
Also Read - What economists mean when they talk about luxury goods
How long does it take for an individual or a society to become rich enough to spend on a clean environment thus leading to environmental sustainability?
If economists use the concept of the Kuznets Curve as a hypothesis, historians do clearly answer this question: It has not happened yet in world history and is unlikely to do so in the foreseeable future.
We live in an era which produces millionaires in their millions, 5.2 million just in the first year of Covid-19, by some accounts.
Some of them are perhaps driving the latest model Tesla and donning T-shirts of the finest organic cotton -- and some of them may become frequent flyers to the moon.
Also Read - In response to Tim Worstall’s ‘What the Kuznets curve means for Bangladesh’
But has any of this made the planet any more environmentally sustainable?
Has it made the garment workers in Dhaka stitching some of those T-shirts rich enough to afford clean bundles of necessities?
No one needs to master technical jargon of any discipline to see that it’s the goalpost — not the Waiting for Godot — which is key to the conversations here.
Also Read - What the Kuznets curve means for Bangladesh
May I take this opportunity to thank Tim Worstall for the thought-provoking discussion and Zafar Sobhan for facilitating this.
The author is associate professor in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences of the Universiti Brunei Darussalam