'Cowboy Economy', No More

Over half a century ago, Kenneth E. Boulding coined the term 'cowboy economy' for the prevailing economic system. As an antithesis, he envisioned a more viable one: the 'spaceman economy'. His view remains relevant, especially given the urgency of ensuring Earth remains habitable and human life can carry through.

In an essay titled 'The Economics of the Coming Spaceship Earth' (1966), the British economist and multidisciplinary scientist explained that a cowboy economy is based on the belief that resources are infinitely available. In this view, consumption and production are always useful — the more, the better — and success is measured by the magnitude of output. That system dominated industrial countries at the time, and it still continues today.

Boulding sees this view as contradicting reality: Earth's resources are not infinitely available. In practice, humans must share not only with each other but also with other living things. Therefore, everything we do depends on the Earth's carrying capacity.

This carrying capacity is now weakening. A recent study published in Science Advances (2023) on planetary boundaries showed that six of the nine variables have already been breached. Counting from the time Johan Rockström et al. introduced these life-support systems in 2009, when three were already surpassed, it took less than two decades to reach the current situation.

It is human activity, primarily to satisfy economic needs — and, in fact, other excessive desires — that is the cause.