Productivity growth as a barrier to a sustainability transition

The need for strong productivity growth is a prominent feature of economic policy debates in Australia. Using the productivity trap concept, this viewpoint explores how in some circumstances the pursuit of productivity growth is a barrier to effective sustainability transitions. This is illustrated by a case study of the Australian baking industry, where the increased market share of small-scale artisan bakers vis-à-vis industrial bakers has recently led to an overall decline in productivity across the baking sector. Although artisan bakers produce more nutritious products and have the potential to significantly increase the energy efficiency of their operations, their labour productivity is half that of their industrial counterparts. Whilst this is good for employment, public health and the environment, artisan bakers have been denigrated as a ‘drain on productivity’. This case study illustrates the potential role of low-productivity goods and services in a sustainability transition in Australia and other developed countries.

Emerging health issues: the widening challenge for population health promotion

The spectrum of tasks for health promotion has widened since the Ottawa Charter was signed. In 1986, infectious diseases still seemed in retreat, the potential extent of HIV/AIDS was unrecognized, the Green Revolution was at its height and global poverty appeared less intractable. Global climate change had not yet emerged as a major threat to development and health. Most economists forecast continuous improvement, and chronic diseases were broadly anticipated as the next major health issue. Today, although many broadly averaged measures of population health have improved, many of the determinants of global health have faltered. Many infectious diseases have emerged; others have unexpectedly reappeared. Reasons include urban crowding, environmental changes, altered sexual relations, intensified food production and increased mobility and trade. Foremost, however, is the persistence of poverty and the exacerbation of regional and global inequality. Life expectancy has unexpectedly declined in several countries. Rather than being a faint echo from an earlier time of hardship, these declines could signify the future. Relatedly, the demographic and epidemiological   transitions have faltered. In some regions, declining fertility has overshot that needed for optimal age structure, whereas elsewhere mortality increases have reduced population growth rates, despite continuing high fertility. Few, if any, Millennium Development Goals (MDG), including those for health and sustainability, seem achievable. Policy-makers generally misunderstand the link between environmental sustainability (MDG #7) and health. Many health workers also fail to realize that social cohesion and sustainability—maintenance of the Earth’s ecological and geophysical systems—is a necessary basis for health. In sum, these issues present an enormous challenge to health. Health promotion must address population health influences that transcend national boundaries and generations and engage with the development, human rights and environmental movements. The big task is to promote sustainable environmental and social conditions that bring enduring and equitable health gains.