Growth

[KevinC]

If the population is going to (presumably over a significant period of time) decrease by a lot, as this forum suggest it must, an economy based on growth is going to have to evolve.

Corporations, who today are either seen as growing, with increased sales year over year, or as dying are going to have to adjust.  Instead of profit being the only measure of a Corporations value, other things are going to have to come into play.  I'd suggest concepts like "sustainability" (e.g.  How much of their product is recyclable, do they other to buy back old product and recycle them in exchange for new products, etc.) and "social impact" (number of people gainfully employed, employee happiness, etc.) are going to need to develop meaningful metrics.

Government might help using the only tool they really have:  taxation.  Perhaps taxes could, at least in part, be based on things like the percentage of products that are 100% recyclable, or the percentage of manufacturing products whose waste are recycled into other industries.