Richard Douthwaite

The role of innovative monetary policies in supporting a Green New Deal and a more sustainable future for Europe and the world

In this paper Deirdre de Búrca, who has been advocating a Green New Deal since 2009, discusses the politics and substance of such a Deal before tackling some of the monetary and financial issues relating to its implementation.

From Our Archives: The Problem with Economic Growth

This article, written by Richard Douthwaite in May 1997, outlines some of the basic ideas that led to the founding of Feasta. It's interesting to note how ahead of his time he was in his criticisms of growth as a measure of progress, many of which are now quite well known. Sadly, the widening inequality he describes and the many problems related to that have only worsened over time.

Will the “economic price” limit oil production?

by Richard Douthwaite. In a widely-circulated article in September 2011, Chris Skrebowski, who runs a peak oil consulting firm and was editor of the Petroleum Review for eleven years until 2008, argued that there are two forms of oil peak. One is, or will be, caused directly by depletion – the oil is no longer in the ground in sufficient quantities for producers to be able to maintain production. The other is the economic oil peak, which he says is the “price at which oil becomes unaffordable to consume and therefore to produce.” Is this assessment realistic?