Matt Appears on Inaugural “Empty World” Podcast

Arketa Institute Co-Founder Matt Orsagh appeared on the inaugural episode of the “Empty World” podcast with Gabriel Bonnamy of MIT.

In October, Matt joined Gabriell Bonnamy of MIT on the first episode of the new podcast “Empty World”. The Empty World Podcast is named after Herman Daly’s “empty world” concept and aims to explore alternatives to growth on a finite planet.

The main goal of the podcast is one that mirrors the mission of Arktea Institute: to normalize conversations about Ecological Economics and the Wellbeing Economy by bringing together researchers, practitioners, and policymakers reimagining economic systems for the 21st century.

In the episode, Matt and Gabriel discus why a system predicated on perpetual economic growth, and associated financial system, may be fundamentally incompatible with planetary survival. The conversation explores Matt’s personal journey into Ecological Economics, why Neoclassical Economics ignores the laws of thermodynamics, how we've breached seven of nine planetary boundaries, and why "green growth" isn't the solution many hope it to be.

Matt makes the case that degrowth isn't about deprivation or recession, it's about recognizing what actually creates human flourishing. He also outlines practical policies for a post-growth world while challenging listeners to reconsider what prosperity really means beyond GDP and material accumulation.

With the podcast, Gabriel is doing his part to reignite the conversation around degrowth and Ecological Economics at MIT, where researchers wrote the book, The Limits to Growth, over fifty years ago. That research remains a major influence in the degrowth and ecological movements but has faded in influence in the academic world in the United States.

Gabriel has already lined up an impressive set of leaders in the degrowth world in coming episodes, so we encourage people to tune in to the podcast.