President Barack Obama talks about restoring economic
growth. But his science adviser, John Holdren, once called
for zero economic growth while writing with Paul and Anne
Ehrlich--who predicted mass starvation in the 1970s.
Reports Cybercast News Service:
At a time when it was popular among environmentalists to talk
about capping pollutants, John Holdren was writing about
placing "caps" on the U.S. economy itself--and working toward
"zero economic growth."
Holdren, who is now President Obama's top
adviser on science and technology policy, wrote in the 1970s
that it would be "entirely logical" to cap the Gross National
Product--the total productivity of the American economy.
"It is by now abundantly clear that the GNP cannot grow
forever. Why should it?" Holdren asked in a 1977 college
science textbook he co-wrote with Paul R. Ehrlich and Anne H.
Ehrlich, titled "Ecoscience: Population, Resources,
Environment."
"Why should we not strive for zero economic growth (ZEG) as
well as zero population growth?"
Admittedly, President Obama hasn't formally adopted this
goal. But by putting the economy into hock and running up
government borrowing, which even the Congressional Budget Office
warns will crowd out private investment, the president seems
determined to prevent a robust recovery. Maybe John Holdren
will get his wish after all.
About the Author
Doug Bandow is a Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute and the Senior Fellow in International Religious Persecution at the Institute on Religion and Public Policy. A former Special Assistant to President Ronald Reagan, he is author of Beyond Good Intentions: A Biblical View of Politics (Crossway).