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Articles by Joe Herbert
Inequality is a growing crisis - including for central banks
Despite the current context of global multi-dimensional crisis, the super-rich have never had it so good. While much of the world population struggles with poverty and living costs, not to mention escalating ecological breakdown, a small class at ‘the top’ are seeing their wealth proliferate rapidly.
Greening Indonesia's Financial System - Event Report
On 4th August 2026, Positive Money hosted a webinar titled “Greening Indonesia's Financial System” (Menghijaukan Sistem Keuangan Indonesia), bringing together Indonesian civil society partners to examine the state of green central banking and sustainable finance reform in Indonesia.
A Rising Tide Won’t Lift All Boats: The UK Government’s Confused Model of Growth
Having examined the negative impacts and dwindling feasibility of growth, this blog zooms in to look specifically at the UK government’s current centering of growth as a policy objective. Evaluation of the government’s growth narrative - even on its own terms - reveals a confused and financialised model of growth, which is unlikely to meaningfully address key challenges of widening socio-economic inequality and ecological breakdown.
A Rising Tide Won’t Lift All Boats: The Decreasing Feasibility of Growth
The impacts on environmental degradation and socio-economic inequality detailed in the first blog in this series ought to remain front and centre of any critical analysis of economic growth, but they are not where the discussion ends. Approaching from a different angle, more and more economists and researchers have also been exploring the question: what level of growth is even possible in so-called ‘developed’ economies of the Global North, in the current historical context?
A Rising Tide Won’t Lift All Boats: The Social and Environmental Harms of Growth
Since coming to power in July 2024, the Labour government has gone to great lengths to communicate the centrality of economic growth in its plans for the country. ‘Economic growth’ in this context is shorthand for increasing Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which itself measures the total value of all economic activity within a given territory, calculated through a number of methods.
The UK Supreme Court's ruling and the rights of transgender people
On April 16, 2025, the UK Supreme Court ruled that only those who are what it terms as biologically female can be defined as women.1 This has wide implications for medicine as well as for people who are transgender. The Court's document runs to 88 pages. The Court's position on sex is set out several times.
Is Singapore a Green Finance Leader?
In January 2024, Chia Der Jiun, the Managing Director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) heralded the country as a ‘leading sustainable finance centre’ in Asia and beyond.
Correction to the 2024 Green Central Banking Scorecard
Following publication of the 2024 Green Central Banking Scorecard, we became aware of a small error in the score calculation. Germany was incorrectly assigned points in the Monetary Policy category, for a policy that should have been categorised under Financial Policy. The Bundesbank’s ‘sustainable investment framework for foreign reserve assets’ policy action has now been scored under the Financial Policy category.
In-depth Q&A: What do Rishi Sunak’s U-turns mean for UK climate policy?
In a shock announcement, UK prime minister Rishi Sunak earlier this week plans to abandon or delay core parts of his government’s climate strategy. Under Sunak’s “new approach”, a 2030 ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars has been delayed by five years, the 2035 phaseout of gas boiler sales has been loosened and landlords will not be obliged to insulate their rental properties to higher standards.
Degrowth London: An Origin Story
London is a city of contrasts and tensions. It is a beloved home to people of diverse cultures, nationalities and backgrounds, where something interesting is always happening, and never too far away. Yet, it is also an historical centre of global political and economic power.
Película: The Black Book
"The Black Book" - 75' - Estados Unidos Terror Independiente Sobrenatural Historias cortas + Muerte Misterio Puntúala Insertar Un coleccionista de libros raros encuentra el legendario ¨Libro Negro¨, que contiene varias historias. Un coleccionista de libros raros encuentra el legendario ¨Libro Negro¨, que contiene varias historias.
Stop Cop City! Revisiting Degrowth & Permanent Ecological Conflict
Armored transport tanks, police vans and Bobcat tractors amass around the Atlanta Forest on December 13th, 2022, in Atlanta Georgia, USA. Riot police and paramilitary Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) teams raid the Atlanta Forest to attack land defenders, their toilets and kitchen. Shooting tear gas, plastic bullets and armed with assault rifles, they begin tearing down tree houses and other amenities. The police invasion was targeting people inhabiting the forest to prevent its destruction.
Transformation or Gentrification? The Hazy Politics of the 15-Minute City
By Joe Herbert, originally published by Degrowth.de September 2, 2021 The idea of the ‘15-minute city’ has recently gained traction amongst policy-makers as an urban innovation with the potential to address intersecting social and ecological challenges of the post-COVID world. But its lack of an embedded politics presents a danger as much as it does an opportunity.
Why can’t we treat mental illness by fixing the brain? – Joe Herbert | Aeon Essays
Our understanding and treatment of mental disorders is primitive. Why is that? The burden on our society is huge. A quarter of women will have an episode of depression at some stage in their lives (it’s about half that for men). Most will never reach a doctor or be diagnosed. About 40 per cent of those who do won’t respond to the first antidepressant they are prescribed, and about 60 per cent of those won’t respond to the second.
Envisioning the Future | Vol. 1
3 min read Thin Walls | By Hanna Sander-Green Thin Walls, the first-place story by Hanna Sander-Green, performs the dual feat of describing a future world no longer dependent on coal while also taking us back to the present day and how people used to live “then” — drawing on the memories of the narrator’s grandmother.
Economic Growth Can't Go Back to Normal If We Are to Solve the Ecological Crisis
The COVID-19 pandemic has delivered a sharp and sudden shock to the global economy’s usual diet of ever-expanding economic growth. Measures to tackle the virus have seen industries grind to a halt, and high streets become ghost towns. Experts are predicting the worst global recession since the 1930s, and the UK’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is forecast to fall by 14% in 2020. For the beneficiaries of our existing economic system, this hit to growth is a waking nightmare.
Why Psychiatry Is Still in the Nineteenth Century
John Roark/The Idaho Post-Register via AP Mrs A has not been herself for months. Life is a dull grey. She no longer takes interest in anything, including her family. Nothing gives her pleasure. She thinks about whether her life is worth continuing. Finally, after much persuasion – because she doesn't like to think of herself as suffering from a mental disorder - she consults a psychiatrist. What can she expect? Read Full Article » Show comments Hide Comments Related Articles
Reader: San Angelo's recycling program is a 'boondoggle'
Joe Herbert, Standard-Times reader Published 12:46 p.m. CT May 14, 2019 Recycling has been around in the United States for over 100 years, though prior to the plastic and aluminum revolution of the 1970's, most recycling was actually reusing. (Photo: KatarzynaBialasiewicz / Getty Images) Recycling has been around in the United States for over 100 years, though prior to the plastic and aluminum revolution of the 1970's, most recycling was actually reusing.
Degrowth Is the Radical Post-Brexit Future the UK Needs
As the Brexit negotiations wrap up and Theresa May’s deal is lambasted by Remainers and Leavers alike, it’s still far from clear what the future holds for the United Kingdom. On March 29 2019, it is due to leave the European Union. Brexit is the first time a member state has voted to withdraw from the EU and it has caused a geopolitical earthquake, unleashing uncertainty in the UK and abroad. We don’t know what the impact on the UK will be when (and if) it actually leaves the EU.
Degrowth is the radical post-Brexit future the UK needs
As the Brexit negotiations wrap up and Theresa May’s deal is lambasted by Remainers and Leavers alike, it’s still far from clear what the future holds for the United Kingdom. On March 29 2019, it is due to leave the European Union. Brexit is the first time a member state has voted to withdraw from the EU and it has caused a geopolitical earthquake, unleashing uncertainty in the UK and abroad. We don’t know what the impact on the UK will be when (and if) it actually leaves the EU.
Degrowth is the radical post-Brexit future the UK needs
As the Brexit negotiations wrap up and Theresa May’s deal is lambasted by Remainers and Leavers alike, it’s still far from clear what the future holds for the United Kingdom. On March 29 2019, it is due to leave the European Union. Brexit is the first time a member state has voted to withdraw from the EU and it has caused a geopolitical earthquake, unleashing uncertainty in the UK and abroad. We don’t know what the impact on the UK will be when (and if) it actually leaves the EU.
Beyond Visions and Projects: The Need for a Debate on Strategy in the Degrowth Movement
There seems to exist a gap in the degrowth discourse around the question of how to move towards a degrowth society. This brings to our attention an important concept – that of strategy. Here, we will use the word ‘strategy’ to refer to how the ends (i.e. a degrowth society) is achieved by the means.
Gender identity: hormones or society?
All societies divide people into male or female. There is a biological truth behind this: different sex chromosomes (XY,XX). But could many gender differences be down to social conditioning? If we treated girls and boys the same from birth, what would the consequences be? More equal opportunities? Or a complete breakdown of the concepts of masculinity and femininity? These ideas partly depend on what we understand by “gender identity”. Gender identity is not a simple concept.
Would gender differences exist if we treated all people the same from birth?
All societies divide people into male or female. There is a biological truth behind this: different sex chromosomes (XY,XX). But could many gender differences be down to social conditioning? If we treated girls and boys the same from birth, what would the consequences be? More equal opportunities? Or a complete breakdown of the concepts of masculinity and femininity? These ideas partly depend on what we understand by “gender identity”. Gender identity is not a simple concept.
What every dictator knows: young men are natural fanatics
Young men are particularly liable to become fanatics. Every dictator, every guru, every religious leader, knows this. Fanatics have an overwhelming sense of identity based on a cause (a religion) or a community (gang, team), and a tight and exclusive bond with other members of that group. They will risk injury, loss or even death for the sake of their group. They regard everyone else as outsiders, or even enemies. But why are so many of them young males?
Why can’t we unite neuroscience and psychiatry?
Our understanding and treatment of mental disorders is primitive. Why is that? The burden on our society is huge. A quarter of women will have an episode of depression at some stage in their lives (it’s about half that for men). Most will never reach a doctor or be diagnosed. About 40 per cent of those who do won’t respond to the first antidepressant they are prescribed, and about 60 per cent of those won’t respond to the second.
Cloud capital, degrowth, and strategy for the polycrisis: a conversation with Yanis Varoufakis
On July 5, 2015, at the height of the eurozone debt crisis, the Greek demos voted by a wide margin to turn down the bailout offered to them by their Troika of creditors – the International Monetary Fund, the European Central Bank, and the European Commission.
'How to Create a Mind'
In response to: Homunculism from the March 21, 2013 issue To the Editors: Colin McGinn’s devastating review of Ray Kurzweil’s book How to Create a Mind emphasizes a classic mistake: confusing analogues with homologues [NYR, March 21]. Computers and brains may both be able to recognize patterns, but they do it differently. But in his eagerness to dismantle the book, Colin McGinn himself falls into a trap or two.
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