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Ep 32  |  Timothée Parrique

Timothée Parrique: “Degrowth: Slow is the New Cool”

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TGS32 Timothee Parrique The Great Simplification

On this episode, we meet with social scientist and researcher at the School of Economics and Management of Lund University, Timothée Parrique.

What is degrowth, and how will it help define our future? 

Parrique explains how the path to societal degrowth might unfold and the social and physical obstacles we may encounter on our way there.

About Timothée Parrique

Timothée Parrique is a social scientist, originally from Versailles, France. He is currently a researcher at the School of Economics and Management of Lund University (Sweden).

He holds a PhD in economics from the Centre d’Études et de Recherches sur le Développement (University of Clermont Auvergne, France) and the Stockholm Resilience Centre (Stockholm University, Sweden). Titled “The political economy of degrowth” (2019), his dissertation explores the economic implications of degrowth.

Tim is the author of Ralentir ou périr. L’économie de la décroissance (September 2022, Seuil), a book adaptation in French of his PhD dissertation.

In French, we have a motto that says that a simple drawing is often better than a long explanation. Jean-Marc Jancovici Carbone 4 President

That’s very understandable because with left atmosphere thinking, one of the problems is that you see everything as a series of problems that must have solutions. Iain McGilchrist Neuroscientist and Philosopher

We can’t have hundreds and hundreds of real relationships that are healthy because that requires time and effort and full attention and awareness of being in real relationship and conversation with the other human. Nate Hagens Director of ISEOF

This is the crux of the whole problem. Individual parts of nature are more valuable than the biocomplexity of nature. Thomas Crowther Founder Restor

Show Notes & Links to Learn More

00:45 – Timothée’s info + works

02:38Different kinds of energy in nature

04:35The problems with infinite growth

05:55Degrowth

06:28Economies with the appearance of green growth

06:57Rebound effect

06:59Green Growth, Decoupling

08:34Planetary Boundaries

11:14Overshoot

11:53Forecasts of economic growth

12:551.5 degree climate threshold

13:30Ecological systems being degraded

14:52GDP to Energy = 1:.993

15:20What is GDP?

15:49Steve Keen + TGS Episode

17:20We cannot grow without cheap fossil fuels

18:34Ecological economics

21:18The national income of France is sufficient to supply all its people’s needs

23:54Peter Victor book (2008) Slower by Design, Not Disaster

24:38Secular stagnation

26:40Shareholder control system

27:38 – French Citizen Convention for ClimateYellow Vest Movement

29:51Planned Obsolescence 

31:55Do people think that businesses should be community oriented

36:30Psychological studies show that the relationships we build are what make us happiest

37:01Ultimate Ends – Herman Daly

37:24Well-being economies

37:39Sweden shared washing machine systems

41:57Commons

46:12Deutch bank scenarios for underfilled natural gas reserves

46:36Greek forest protections during recession

47:50Poorly constructed, energy deficient homes

50:20EU bans sale of fossil car by 2035

51:08Great Reset – World Economic Forum

51:39Leverage points – Donella Meadows

51:50127 Hours

53:40Norway system to phase out heavy polluting cars vs France’s fee based system

54:08France criminalization of planned obsolescence

54:18Vienna’s no for-profit housing

55:22In Sweden it’s forbidden to advertise to children under 12

59:05EU standard for Debt to GDP

59:39Loss aversion

1:00:20We are doubling our financial claims every 8 years

1:01:57Survey of list of things people feel are necessities

1:03:32Jason Hickel

1:08:18 Talking to someone about these existential issues helps

1:12:08 IPCC 6th report

1:12:21NYT survey reporting only 1% of Americans consider climate change the most important issue

1:12:50 Risks of collapse of biodiversity

1:13:56Biofeedback

1:15:04Calls for boycotts among French graduates

1:15:49Lying flat movement in China, June 2021

1:15:59Younger generation puts less value on money and more on existential issues

1:16:49Chinese strike against mortgages

MoreAnalysis: Climate change, scarcity chip away at degrowth taboo

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