There is a shift taking place in the world that mainstream economists (or self-proclaimed economists) don't understand. Part of it is the development of new measures of "success" for society. The reaction of the economic community has been one of panic. Not only will all their models become outmoded, but even their core expertise will be undermined. So they bluster, there is little else they can do.

It is not important to listen to the specific arguments, in many cases they contradict themselves or each other. Just listen to the tone.

The other point is to suggest reading the recent book by Bill McKibben "Deep Economy". He "gets" the ideas about new measures of success and popularizes the work of the ecological economists like Herman Daly and Robert Costanza. He is also one of the few authors I have seen promoting the idea of doing with less. Some of his ideas are a bit utopian, but this may not be a bad thing when trying to energize a new movement.

PS. Al Gore's testimony before congress the other day seems to have gone further than he was willing to do in the past. I reported on a speech in made in the fall about "smart growth" and such easy steps, but he is now proposing more concrete actions. These include an immediate freeze on new coal power plants unless they include sequestration. Also shifting to CFL bulbs within a few years, de facto adoption of Kyoto by means of legislation without ratifying the treaty, and moving the next round of restrictions to 2010 from 2012.

You can watch his testimony on YouTube. I'm not very good at navigating through the site, but searching on NancyPelosi as the uploader will get you to the right area.

Policies not Politics
---- Daily Landscape