Economists declare war on growth-first politics

Illustration: Eleanor Shakespeare/The Guardian

A coalition of economists, academics and anti-poverty campaigners is mounting a direct challenge to one of the most deeply entrenched assumptions in modern politics: that economic growth is the key to ending poverty.

Their message is stark. Decades of expanding GDP have failed to eliminate deprivation, they argue, while simultaneously accelerating climate breakdown and widening inequality.

The Growth Promise Under Fire

For generations, policymakers have relied on a simple formula: grow the economy and prosperity will eventually reach everyone. The authors of a new international roadmap say that promise has broken down.

They point to stagnant wages, rising insecurity and overstretched public services across many advanced economies. While national wealth has increased, they argue, the benefits have become increasingly concentrated among those already at the top.

Climate Crisis Raises the Stakes

The challenge to growth economics is not only about inequality. It is also about environmental limits.

The group argues that an economic model built on continuous expansion is colliding with the realities of climate change, biodiversity loss and resource depletion. As extreme weather events intensify around the world, they say the costs of maintaining the status quo are becoming impossible to ignore.

A New Blueprint Takes Shape

The proposed roadmap emerged from an 18-month process involving hundreds of participants, including UN agencies, trade unions, academics, governments and civil society groups.

Rather than treating GDP growth as the primary measure of success, the plan focuses on reducing poverty through stronger labour rights, universal public services, affordable housing, healthcare investment and expanded social protections. Supporters say economic policy should be judged by wellbeing and human rights rather than output alone.

The Global System Faces Scrutiny

The authors also target international economic structures they believe trap poorer nations in cycles of debt and dependency.

They argue that many developing countries spend more servicing debts than funding healthcare or education. Calls for debt relief, climate finance and fairer trade arrangements form a central part of the proposed overhaul.

A Defining Choice for Governments

Supporters insist poverty is not an inevitable feature of modern economies but the result of political and economic choices.

That argument places governments under growing pressure. As inequality, living costs and climate risks continue to dominate public debate, policymakers face a stark question: continue pursuing growth as the primary goal, or redesign economies around social outcomes and environmental limits. The answer could shape economic policy for decades.

We economists have done the maths: 'growth' is a doomed strategy – there is a better way