Sustainable Development is the New Economic Paradigm

This article offers three reflections on the idea of a new economic paradigm. First, the new paradigm is neither new nor a paradigm; rather it is a quest for what in physics would be called a grand unification theory, namely, a framework that brings together existing frameworks (or paradigms). Second, the 2008 economic shocks are an almost exact replica of the 1970s, and the two together signal the Age of Limits, which is the true trigger of the search for a new paradigm. Third, the advent of the Age of Limits has led to two contrasting approaches, namely, the neo-liberal approach, which seeks to jettison social protections to save the existing economic system (and associated economic privileges), and sustainable development, which seeks to protect human welfare including by modifications in the economic and financial systems.