What is 'uneconomic growth'? 5 economic stories to read this week

Jul 29, 2022

Economic crime, China's population decline and GDP's environmental impact - these are the latest economic stories. Image: Unsplash/Arturo Castaneyra

Tom Crowfoot

Writer, Forum Agenda

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This weekly round-up brings you some key economic stories from the past seven days.
Top economics stories: Economic crime plagues businesses; Biodiversity loss could cause bankruptcy for countries; how GDP has harmed the planet; young US adults living with their parents; China's population is about to decline.

1. Nearly half of businesses are being hit by economic crime

Cybercrime is the biggest fraud threat facing most businesses today, according to a new PwC survey.

Cyber attacks are the leading economic crimes hitting businesses. Image: PwC

The rise of digital platforms and e-commerce has given new opportunities to fraudsters, with 40% of the businesses surveyed that have experienced fraud in the past two years saying it was connected to the digital platforms they use.

Discover why economic crime is on the rise and how businesses can tackle it.

2. How biodiversity loss could cause bankruptcy in some countries

Roughly one million animal and plant species are at risk of extinction according to the UN. The economic impacts of this vast decline in biodiversity have been outlined by the University of Cambridge in this report. Many countries would be at risk of going bankrupt as their credit ratings deteriorate due to ecological factors such as biodiversity loss, according to the research.

credit ratings countries biodiversity loss economic bankruptcy

How the credit rating of 26 countries could be affected by biodiversity loss. Image: University of Cambridge

For almost half of these 26 countries, their risk of bankruptcy could increase by 10%. Learn more about the economic consequences of biodiversity loss.

Discover

What is the World Economic Forum doing about nature?

Biodiversity loss and climate change are occurring at unprecedented rates, threatening humanity’s very survival. Nature is in crisis, but there is hope. Investing in nature can not only increase our resilience to socioeconomic and environmental shocks, but it can help societies thrive.

There is strong recognition within the Forum that the future must be net-zero and nature-positive. The Nature Action Agenda initiative, within the Centre for Nature and Climate, is an inclusive, multistakeholder movement catalysing economic action to halt biodiversity loss by 2030.

The Nature Action Agenda is enabling business and policy action by:

Building a knowledge base to make a compelling economic and business case for safeguarding nature, showcasing solutions and bolstering research through the publication of the New Nature Economy Reports and impactful communications.

Catalysing leadership for nature-positive transitions through multi-stakeholder communities such as Champions for Nature that takes a leading role in shaping the net-zero, nature-positive agenda on the global stage.

Scaling up solutions in priority socio-economic systems through BiodiverCities by 2030, turning cities into engines of nature-positive development; Financing for Nature, unlocking financial resources through innovative mechanisms such as high-integrity Biodiversity Credits Market; and Sector Transitions to Nature Positive, accelerating sector-specific priority actions to reduce impacts and unlock opportunities.

Supporting an enabling environment by ensuring implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and mobilizing business voices calling for ambitious policy actions in collaboration with Business for Nature.

3. This is the concept of 'uneconomic growth'

Economist Herman Daly has pioneered this concept for much of his life. It explains how prioritising GDP growth above all else has led to significant problems for the planet, such as the climate crisis.

Un-economic growth: Graph showing co-relation between annual global GDP per capita (in US$) and annual number of natural disasters globally. Image: World Bank

Some experts instead advocate for a steady-state model, which works to ensure the well-being of our planet and its people. Read more on the concept of uneconomic growth.

Have you read?

GDP: What is it and why does it matter?

4. How many young adults in the US live with their parents today, compared to 50 years ago?

As student debt and housing costs continue to rise, young adults in the US are staying at home in increasing numbers. A quarter of US adults aged 25 to 34 resided in a multigenerational family household in 2021, up from 9% in 1971, Pew Research Center explains.

A graph showing how young adults in the US are increasingly living at home with their parents.

The number of young adults living with their parents has risen steadily in the last 50 years. Image: Pew Research Center

Explore why young adults in the US are doing this and how this behaviour has evolved.

5. China's population is about to shrink for the first time in 60 years - what will this mean for the world?

With China accounting for more than one-sixth of the world's population, a decline could have significant economic impacts. The country's fertility rate has shrunk from 2.6 in the late 1980s, to just 1.15 in 2021, according to the latest figures.

This means that China's working-age population will decline significantly over the coming century.

graph China working-age population predictions through to 2098 economic decline

China’s elderly population is expected to pass the working-age population around 2080, which could have significant economic impacts in the future. Image: Shanghai Academy of Social Science

Read more on the impacts of China's population decline.

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The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.