A great place to start in the debate on sustainable capitalism is Tim Jackson's work Prosperity Without Growth? This link is to the original report which has since been revised and published as a book. In it he sets out the main problems with the issues of growth and the rate at which we need to change in order to become more sustainable. What is refreshing about this work is that it is not written in the preaching manner that many people adopt on sustainability. Instead it looks at facts from an economic perspective, dealing with the stark realities and some of the flaws in current economic thinking, such as decoupling and how it might not be the answer we are all looking for.
The reason I picked this work as a place to start is that it covers most of the topics that are relevant, it outlines the problems we currently face and suggests some solutions. It calls for a holistic approach to changing the way we look at our economic systems, particularly in the developed world so that our measures of prosperity move away from growth models, towards human development aims.
My one fear with this kind of report is that it requires everybody to make changes in their lifestyles. I fear this is far too idealistic and perhaps the hardest struggle of all will be convincing people that this is in their best interests,
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