Research - 06.10.2026 - 08:30
Since World War II, no concept has shaped the Swiss economy and economic policy more profoundly than the growth paradigm. However, at least since the 1970s energy crisis, the “limits to growth” have also increasingly come into the public spotlight. In 1972, the Club of Rome publicly presented its report of the same name at the 3rd “International Managers Discussion” at the University of St.Gallen (HSG). Hugo E. Thiemann, an engineer from Eastern Switzerland and co-founder of the Club of Rome, expressed his conviction during the report’s presentation in St.Gallen, saying that, “further growth should be controlled and must not degenerate into unchecked proliferation.” Subsequently, new concepts—which can be described using terms such as “qualitative”, “sustainable”, or “green growth”, increasingly shaped the debate. “Degrowth” and “sufficiency” have since become new buzzwords critical of growth; and against the backdrop of the intensifying climate crisis, the question of the limits to growth and our use of natural resources today is more pressing than ever before.
Going beyond the traditional quantitative definition of economic growth as a (steady) increase in gross domestic product, this book seeks to develop a more multifaceted understanding of growth processes, one grounded in discourses, practices, and social negotiation processes. Methodologically, the volume thus builds on reflections on a “narrative economy”, as recently articulated by the American economist and Nobel laureate Robert J. Shiller. The book was edited by economic historian Dr. Roman Rossfeld, a research associate and lecturer at the School of Humanities and Social Sciences (SHSS) at HSG. The volume stems from his many years of research into the history of economic growth and critiques of growth, as well as the history of economic crises. This summer, the book was awarded the Research Prize of the Swiss Economic Archives (SWA). The award ceremony will take place on 8 March 2027, at 6:15 p.m., at the Basel Historical Museum (Barfüsserkirche).
The book comprises a total of 15 essays, ranging from the significance of oil as a key raw material of the “Golden Age” to industrial-scale housing construction in the 1960s and 1970s, and on to the implementation of neoliberal growth policies during the stagnation of the 1990s. In their essays, however, the 14 authors examine not only how (steady) growth in the postwar years—including in Switzerland—came to be a guiding principle shaping the economy and politics and a widely accepted measure of progress and prosperity. They also address the emergence of sometimes harsh criticism of growth in the context of the “environmental turn” since the 1970s—including from the highest political circles. For example, in January 1972, Federal Councilor Nello Celio (FDP) stated that the “excessive exploitation of natural resources and the pollution and contamination of the environment caused by ignorance, carelessness, and selfish recklessness” were threatening “the lives of plants, animals, and humans throughout the world.” While Tobias Küng’s contribution examines how the discourse on energy conservation has changed since the 1970s, Anja Peter investigates the impact that the rising number of working women (particularly since the 1980s) has had not only on economic growth, but also the debate on gender equality. Last but not least, the volume is also intended as a historical contribution to the ongoing sociopolitical debate on issues of economic growth and criticism of growth—or, as the editor, Roman Rossfeld, puts it in his introduction: “Anyone who speaks of the climate today cannot remain silent on growth.”
Rossfeld, Roman (ed.): Mehr! Wirtschaftswachstum und Wachstumskritik in der Schweiz seit 1945, Basel 2025.
The 480-page book (in German) can be ordered on the Schwabe-Verlag website. A free PDF is available open access.
Portrait photo: Franziska Rothenbühler
Photo “Sunnebüel”: Werner Friedli, ETH Library Zurich, Image Archive/Swiss Aerial Photography Foundation
