1776
Modern economic thinking emerges
When modern economic thinking was introduced, the global population was under 1 billion.Access to fossil energy kick-starts the Industrial Revolution. The economy starts to grow.By the 1970s, humanity first overshoots Earth’s ecological limits. From this point onward, we are living in ecological debt.Multiple Earth systems are now under stress. Yet the pace of activity and economic growth keeps accelerating.The global economy must double to maintain itself. This pushes the system towards irreversible tipping points.Climate shocks are projected to halve the global GDP. The system is on a collision course with its own limits.
Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations, published in 1776, is widely cited as the intellectual starting point for modern economic thinking.
Back then, the global population was under 1 billion. Natural resources seemed infinite. On a global scale, human activity remained within Earth’s safe operating space.