--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The 20th Century approach to economics…" description: "\"The 20th Century approach to economics, resource depletion and over-consumption means we boom and bust until we bust more than we boom; that is precise..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/41d/phil-harding-17218_20th-century_the-20th-century-approach-to-economics-r_1131904.jpg" --- # The 20th Century approach to economics, resource depletion… ![“The 20th Century approach to economics, resource depletion and over-consumption means we boom and bust until we bust more than we boom; that is precisely what is happening. In a low growth economy, the true meaning of resource efficiency in business and in everything we do is essential” quote by Phil Harding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/41d/phil-harding-17218_20th-century_the-20th-century-approach-to-economics-r_1131904.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/41d/phil-harding-17218_20th-century_the-20th-century-approach-to-economics-r_1131904.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/41d/phil-harding-17218_20th-century_the-20th-century-approach-to-economics-r_1131904.jpg) > “The 20th Century approach to economics, resource depletion and over-consumption means we boom and bust until we bust more than we boom; that is precisely what is happening. In a low growth economy, the true meaning of resource efficiency in business and in everything we do is essential” [Phil Harding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-harding/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote warns that current economic patterns of overuse and boom‑bust cycles are unsustainable, urging a shift toward genuine resource efficiency in a low‑growth world. **In simple terms:** Current growth models waste resources and cause cycles of boom and bust; efficiency is now essential. Key Takeaway Prioritize true efficiency over short‑term growth. Themes economics environment sustainability growth efficiency Mood concerned urgent Type analytical call‑to‑action When to use this quote - corporate planning - public policy - personal consumption habits - investment decisions Key Concepts resource depletion over‑consumption boom‑bust cycles low‑growth strategies Questions to Reflect On - How can businesses measure true resource efficiency? - What policies can break the boom‑bust cycle? A Different Perspective Efficiency alone may not solve systemic inequality or political resistance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Approach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/approach/) [Consumption](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consumption/) [Economics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/economics/) [Economy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/economy/) [Efficiency](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/efficiency/) [Growth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/growth/) [Productivity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/productivity/) [Resource depletion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/resource-depletion/) [True meaning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/true-meaning/) ## Related quotes > [It is environmental illiteracy and a complete lack of forward thinking to ignore the need to halt and then reverse population growth in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-harding/it-is-environmental-illiteracy-and-a-complete-lack-of-forward/) [Phil Harding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-harding/) > [Resource efficiency is the wrong metric. We should use nature as the measure, using nature's wisdom as a template for our economic systems.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-tompkins/resource-efficiency-is-the-wrong-metric-we-should-use-nature-as-the/) [Douglas Tompkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-tompkins/) > [Everybody talks about population growth and its disastrous effect on climate change, food security and resource depletion, but nobody does anything about it](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-harding/everybody-talks-about-population-growth-and-its-disastrous-effect-on/) [Phil Harding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-harding/) > [Resource efficiency - it's about only taking what we need](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-benn/resource-efficiency-it-s-about-only-taking-what-we-need/) [Hilary Benn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-benn/) > [“I love them with fierce intensity and yet I operate out of depletion, which prevents me from being able to appreciate them in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandra-kuykendall/i-love-them-with-fierce-intensity-and-yet-i-operate-out-of-depletion/) [Alexandra Kuykendall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandra-kuykendall/) > [“They will also tell you how far along we are along the depletion curve; the optimists among them will even claim that there is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dmitry-orlov/they-will-also-tell-you-how-far-along-we-are-along-the-depletion/) [Dmitry Orlov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dmitry-orlov/) > [The approaching exhaustion of domestic reserves of petroleum and the rapid depletion of world reserves will have a profound effect on Americans in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-lamm/the-approaching-exhaustion-of-domestic-reserves-of-petroleum-and-the/) [Richard Lamm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-lamm/) > [The U.S. has subsidized the armies of other countries while allowing for the very sad depletion of our military.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-trump/the-u-s-has-subsidized-the-armies-of-other-countries-while-allowing/) [Donald Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-trump/) > [The people of each generation perceive the state of the ecosystems they encountered in their childhood as normal and natural. When wildlife is depleted,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-monbiot/the-people-of-each-generation-perceive-the-state-of-the-ecosystems/) [George Monbiot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-monbiot/) > [“if you have had to force yourself to do something, you are less willing or less able to exert self-control when the next challenge…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-kahneman/if-you-have-had-to-force-yourself-to-do-something-you-are-less/) [Daniel Kahneman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-kahneman/) > [...so mankind is now trapped by the failure of its energies and by the depletion of those natural resources that men have plundered wantonly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-kirk/so-mankind-is-now-trapped-by-the-failure-of-its-energies-and-by-the/) [Russell Kirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-kirk/) > [Conventional economic theory... counts the depletion of resources as the accumulation of wealth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-lynas/conventional-economic-theory-counts-the-depletion-of-resources-as-the/) [Mark Lynas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-lynas/) > [I can't see the future, but it's grim. The depletion of resources - we're living in this dine-and-dash economy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/i-can-t-see-the-future-but-it-s-grim-the-depletion-of-resources-we-re/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [Gaia's main problems are not industrialization, ozone depletion, overpopulation, or resource depletion. Gaia's main problem is the lack of mutual understanding and mutual agreement…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-wilber/gaia-s-main-problems-are-not-industrialization-ozone-depletion/) [Ken Wilber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-wilber/) > [All our efforts to defeat poverty and pursue sustainable development will be in vain if environmental degradation and natural resource depletion continue unabated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kofi-annan/all-our-efforts-to-defeat-poverty-and-pursue-sustainable-development/) [Kofi Annan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kofi-annan/) ## More by Phil Harding > [To care for the natural world is the most effective insurance policy we can have](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-harding/to-care-for-the-natural-world-is-the-most-effective-insurance-policy/) [Phil Harding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-harding/) > [Economic growth won't feed a growing population living on this finite planet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-harding/economic-growth-won-t-feed-a-growing-population-living-on-this-finite/) [Phil Harding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-harding/) > [A stable 21st century society requires 21st century solutions not 20th century economics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-harding/a-stable-21st-century-society-requires-21st-century-solutions-not/) [Phil Harding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-harding/) > [Sustainable energy + food security + healthy environment = full employment + better future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-harding/sustainable-energy-food-security-healthy-environment-full-employment/) [Phil Harding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-harding/) > [WHAT IF we all treat other people as we wish to be treated? MORE happiness. LESS selfishness, crime, fraud, hatred, terrorism, wars...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-harding/what-if-we-all-treat-other-people-as-we-wish-to-be-treated-more/) [Phil Harding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-harding/) > [Reasons to be positive. The economic downturn could be the catalyst for positive change. 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Before then, reading and writing were skills largely confined to a small, highly educated class of professional people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-mackay/universal-literacy-was-a-20th-century-goal-before-then-reading-and/) [Hugh Mackay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-mackay/) > [The great wars of the 20th Century made it into the worst Century ever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-ambrose/the-great-wars-of-the-20th-century-made-it-into-the-worst-century-ever/) [Stephen Ambrose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-ambrose/) > [That is very different from how it used to be in the 20th century. Media was very one way. There's a small little industry.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-gordon-levitt/that-is-very-different-from-how-it-used-to-be-in-the-20th-century/) [Joseph Gordon-Levitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-gordon-levitt/) > [If you look back on the history of the 20th century, the 19th century or even to the ancien régime of the 18th, you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zygmunt-bauman/if-you-look-back-on-the-history-of-the-20th-century-the-19th-century/) [Zygmunt Bauman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zygmunt-bauman/) > [Up to the 20th century, we can say that this whole period was an Earth epoch, 'Earth' meaning the riches of the earth, simple…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lech-walesa/up-to-the-20th-century-we-can-say-that-this-whole-period-was-an-earth/) [Lech Walesa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lech-walesa/) > [I think this century more than any other really has seen the phenomenon of people being uprooted in such numbers, such a degree. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elie-wiesel/i-think-this-century-more-than-any-other-really-has-seen-the/) [Elie Wiesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elie-wiesel/) > [If you look at that incredible burst of fantastic characters that emerged in the late 19th century/early 20th century, you can see so many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-moore/if-you-look-at-that-incredible-burst-of-fantastic-characters-that/) [Alan Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-moore/) > [Cruel and paradoxical though it undoubtedly is, the record shows that yje most succesful 20th century monarchs have been those who were not actually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-cannadine/cruel-and-paradoxical-though-it-undoubtedly-is-the-record-shows-that/) [David Cannadine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-cannadine/) > [An interesting thing about New Zealand, you know, literature is that it really didn't begin in any real sense until the 20th century.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-catton/an-interesting-thing-about-new-zealand-you-know-literature-is-that-it/) [Eleanor Catton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-catton/) > [The Warmth of Other Suns is a sweeping and yet deeply personal tale of America's hidden 20th century history - the long and difficult…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-brokaw/the-warmth-of-other-suns-is-a-sweeping-and-yet-deeply-personal-tale/) [Tom Brokaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-brokaw/) Browse all 672 20th century quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The 20th Century approach to economics, resource depletion and over-consumption means we boom and bust until we bust more than we boom; that is precisely what is happening. 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