Sustainable Economic Development: The Systemic Challenge
Achieving sustainable economic development is the holy grail — but it won’t happen without serious changes to how we regulate, produce, and consume. This lesson explores the structural contradictions we need to confront if we’re serious about sustainability.
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Lesson Overview
All countries pursue economic growth and development — but sustainable economic development is far harder to achieve.
This lesson unpacks the system-level contradictions that make true sustainability so difficult. From regulation to consumption, we explore what needs to change — and why it’s not easy.
- 📌 Regulation as the rules of the game — and how uneven rules create loopholes
- 📌 How we produce: the push for efficiency, and why regulation matters
- 📌 How we consume: more, bigger, quicker — and the limits of a growth-driven model
- 📌 The uncomfortable truth: sustainability narratives often clash with business incentives
Changing the system means rethinking how we live — not just how we talk.
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— Vincent McCarthy, CFA
Founder, Responsible Investment Institute®