Introduction to sustainable development

Economic & Social Aspects of Sustainability

This paper addresses three economic aspects and three social aspects of sustainable development and how their current relevance differs from the more traditional views and practical applications. A quick definition of sustainable development is in order. It represents the development of some industrial or natural resource in order to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of some future generation to meet their own needs in a similar manner. Consider the new demands placed on all aspects of our industrial and natural resources in this new global economy. "Perhaps there is no more important question than the future, none that affects more deeply our private destinies and those of our children." (Heilbroner & Thurow, 1982) Demand continue to outstrip supply in many areas of society which adds new pressures on existing processes so the importance of the concept of sustainable development becomes clearer.

The first economic aspect is the greater demand of oil and coal consumption. Our gluttony today will never be able to be maintained by future generations simply because the resources are each finite. As demand greatly increases around the globe and as the economies of former second and third world nations enter in the fray for economic production, we jeopardize our future generation's very livelihoods. Consider that just 100 years ago the amounts of available oil and coal seemed limitless. Today, we are forced to drill thousands of miles below sea and rock just to meet the current global demand for oil while at the same time coal production is clearing mines at record paces requiring deeper trenches and mines.

A second economic aspect is the faster cycles of boom and bust. Not only demand for oil and coal is in greater demand, economic development also needs capital. Today, money can be zipped around the world in seconds. This new found financial freedom may be more of a curse because the global economy now suffers greater periods of boom and high levels of growth followed by drastic collapsing financial bubbles. The problem with that is that future generations are now on the tail end of large global deficits that will eventually come back to hinder their financial capabilities.

A third economic aspect is that now there are more interrelated social ties to each global boom or bust. Economic outcomes like our current economic woes entail more parts of the globe suffering through recessions that feel like more of a depression. The extent of this problem has been so severe that some of the world's oldest and largest financial institutions have literally collapsed under the pressure in the same way that the Soviet Union collapsed trying to outspend the United States during the cold war.