Beyond growth: Europe's future
The article “Beyond Growth: Europe's Path to Sustainability and Stability” was published in the June 2025 issue of Intereconomics – Review of European Economic Policy, an internationally renowned journal for economic policy debates. In it, the authors argue that a one-sided focus on economic growth cannot solve key environmental and social challenges. Instead, they advocate economic policy strategies that take ecological limits, social security, and economic stability into account together.
The article appears in a broader debate forum entitled “Frontiers of Growth: Europe's Struggle for Resilience, Sustainability, and Social Justice,” with additional contributions from Gustav Horn, Mahdi Ghodsi, Basak Kus, and others. The forum is aimed at an expert audience interested in economic policy and contributes to the ongoing debate on alternative economic policy orientations in Europe.
Matthias Schmelzer contributes his research on the history of the growth paradigm, economic stagnation trends, and post-growth approaches to the article. The article places current European crisis dynamics in a broader political-economic context and discusses perspectives for sustainable and stable development beyond growth-based control logics.