Are We in for Imminent Social Collapse?

2min Snip

00:00

Play full episode

Summary

Transcript

Episode notes

CNN's John Sutter and iReporter Efren Olivares have been arguing for over an hour about the future of our economy. The conversation has evolved a lot since it began, but one thing is clear: We can't continue to grow like we are now. So how will harvard run on its endowment? Are we in for imminent social collapse when these nomic institutions, which we take for granted, start to fail because growth fails? What do you think?

Of all the scenarios that keep astrophysicist Sandra Faber up at night, it's not the Earth's increasing volcanism, the loss of photosynthesis, or even the impact of a massive asteroid. Rather, it's the collapse she's certain will result from the unbridled growth of the world's economies. Join Faber and EconTalk host Russ Roberts as they explore what the most inexorable law of physics has to do with economics and whether the world's growing economies pose a problem or provide the solution for the finiteness of planet Earth.