Green Capitalism and Buddhist Economics Thread

[Franknburger]

What's so difficult about it? You just need something non-material, e.g. a mp3 file, attach a price tag, and sell it. Voila - Buddhist capitalism Steve Jobs style!
It also works with computer game gimmicks (and the games themselves, if they can be purchased online for download), sponsorship on a piece of rain forest, your online post-graduate diploma, pay-tv, e-books and various other stuff. Insurance, as well as various kinds of financial investments, especially futures, have always been immaterial (though based on underlying physical assets). Arguably, while including some use of goods, a spa treatment is mostly immaterial as well.

Until the turn of the millennium, economic growth was closely correlated with energy consumption. That relation has now been cut in most industrialised countries.

[Franknburger]

Another important factor that has an effect on birth rates- probably the most important effect in fact- is the level of education afforded to girls and women.  The more education, the fewer kids. 

The most important factor affecting birth rates is urbanisation. Essentially, the cost of raising children is much higher in cities. Main issues are housing, and the opportunity cost of devoting time to child care instead of gaining income. In cities, women have much better income opportunities than in rural areas.

Nevertheless, female education is highly relevant as well. There are several factors in play here. First, there is a clear relation between infant/ child mortality and birth rates, and better educated mothers tend to have lower infant / child mortality rates. Secondly, better education also means longer education, which pushes forward motherhood age. In the case of Germany, the birth rate decline that set in after 1968 was almost completely caused by a strong drop in pregnancies of 16-25 year old women. Birth rates of 25-35 year old have remained virtually unchanged, birth rates over 35 have even increased slightly. Last but not least, in an urbanised/industrialised society, better education also means better income opportunities and as such higher opportunity costs of motherhood.

But yeah... eastern Europe under communism had lower birth rates after the war, but then higher birth rates than western Europe in the 70s and 80s because birth rates there had fallen along with the west whent he baby boom was over in the 60s... so the government was proactive by restricting abortions and providing free childcare for children.. so basically like in 1980s east Germany, the birth rate was higher than West Germany because of those supports... but it was still low by world standards.

Abortion restrictions are insignificant in this context. The difference between pre-unification West and East German birth rates was mainly caused by
a.) Strong East German incentives for parenthood - having a child pushed you up the applicant list for newly-constructed flats. In the centrally-planned economic context (no housing market), you needed to have a child to be able to move out of the parents' flat, more children meant access to larger flats and/or the opportunity to build your own house;
b.) Low opportunity costs for mothers in the East: Government-guaranteed employment, and the availability of a well developed early-child care infrastructure ensured that mothers could quickly continue their professional careers after some 12-15 months baby pause.

In fact, the lack of an early-child care infrastructure in the West (not only in relation to former East Germany and Scandinavia, but also compared to countries like France or Belgium) is regarded a main cause for low German birth rates, and one of the key topics of the current election campaign here. Professional care (early childhood as well as for the elderly) has been a key driver of the recent German employment boom, and may be considered an element of green/ Buddhist economic transformation.