It has become commonplace to criticise the present government’s austerity programme as a Plan A with no Plan B. But we have to question whether a conventional Plan B is feasible. Instead a Steady State approach means a Plan C to exit the labyrinth of the failed growth model. So….

Plan A, or Fiscal Austerity means more cuts, punishment of the poor, looting of the commons and disregard for the environment.

Plan B, or Phantom Abundance means either grey or green Keynesianism, a back-to-how-it-was before the banking crash, or the coalition’s cuts – back to an inherently unstable and unsustainable model.

Plan C, or Ecological Prosperity means a planned approach to a society where we can all live a good life, satisfied with enough, without seeking endless growth and accumulation, respecting the planetary limits: Steady State. Any recovery from the current recession and austerity programme will need to be a Steady State recovery that leaves nobody behind, but that knows what enough means. Taking seriously both the mitigation of climate change (through radically decreasing emissions) and adapting to the climate change that is already gathering, will help this recovery to re-balance the economy.