Are There Limits to Growth? Climate Change… Coronavirus… Is There a Connection?

Abstract

Over the past decade, the world has witnessed the unfolding of climate change—the extension of our limited abatement of pollution and uncontrolled consumption of resources. We have also in the midst of the third coronavirus event. The first was the Severe acute respiratory syndrome or SARS-CoV in 2003; then there was the Middle East respiratory syndrome or MERS- CoV in 2012; and finally, the current SARS-CoV-2 virus which is the cause COVID-19.

Although it is tempting to assert that a causal relationship does in fact exist, there may not be a substantive line of argument to support such a claim, nor sufficient evidence that is available. The intent of this paper is to examine whether a causal relationship can be at least hypothesized. No attempt will be made to produce an analytical or statistical model of such a relationship. The approach used will be primarily argumentative in nature, drawing upon the body of literature that may be available to assist in its rationalization. There may be arguments that may not have been considered—and for that, it was not intentional.

Keywords: Growth, Pandemic, Climate Change

JEL Classification: I15, H41, Q54