Economic Symposium

It has now been 32 years since the Club of Rome, which was founded in 1968, commissioned and published its report on the "Limits to Growth." The report was a major step at the beginning of the environmental protection movement and had a decisive influence on politics for decades: Ecological thinking found its way into economic and corporate policy.

However, now the (European) economy is not suffering as much from runaway growth rates and their negative effects on the environment as from a certain degree of stagnation. This lack of growth yields few uplifting consequences for economic and social policy as well as the economy and labor market. If Europe's economies do not succeed in returning to the path of growth, these consequences will even be exacerbated in light of the aging population.

These topics in particular are the focus of the Alpbach Economic Symposium 2004, entitled "Limits to Growth  Growth without Limits? Sustainability and Demographic Change." At the symposium, renowned figures will discuss historical perspectives as well as the outlook for the future. Scientists, researchers, politicians and businesspeople will come together to discuss the labor market and consumption structure, innovation and financing, growth and demographic change, as well as sustainability and justice. Working groups will analyze and differentiate the theses presented in the plenary talks, after which a closing session with highly notable participants will round off this tour d`horizon.