From the introduction: . . . Ecological and degrowth economists need to take seriously the problems of unemployment and poverty if anyone is to listen to us. In an era where the primary demand of the electorate is “jobs, jobs, jobs,” ignoring the need of people to find steady and meaningful work will make those concerned only with living within nature’s limits appear callous just at the time when rapid action is needed to forestall the worst effects of anthropogenic climate change and peak oil. However the current declines in economic growth rates are not the result of concerted efforts to address climate change and resource depletion. Rather, periodic declines in growth are characteristic of a market system, and have been since the inception of capitalism. The world economy has experienced several “great depressions” (1870s, 1890s, and 1930s) and a series of post - World War II recessions. Moreover the percentage change in the growth of Gross Domestic Product have been slowing since the 1960s (Klitgaard and Krall 2012).