Matt Ridley’s in his book “How Innovation works” makes the case that growth doesn’t ever have to stop. Once we figure out how to produce more, we learn how to produce more with less. Until our efficiencies far outweigh our appetite.
Light is a great example. Once the cost of light goes down, more people leave their lights on. However, the efficiency of LEDs mean we’re more efficient than ever before.
This chart (source) is a great example. As a share of wallet, the US has gotten incredibly efficient at feeding its citizens. Over time, all the economies in the right will keep doing more with less.
Then the challenge will be to reduce the share of consumer expenditures on quality food. And so on.
More. Then more with less.
