Are young people poised to slam the brake on endless economic growth?

The climate and cost of living crises make belief in expanding GDPs look as stale as last year's mince pies. But when central governments rely on consumerism to shore up spending, it will be hard for degrowth' to gain any traction

When Kat Butler made her first post-lockdown trip to the high street in 2021, she found herself staring, disorientated, at the aisles of clothes in the Perth branch of Mountain Warehouse. There was just rails and rails of stuff," she says.

Before the pandemic, Butler, 36, a freelance graphic designer, had enjoyed browsing clothes shops, touching the fabrics and inspecting garments' construction. But when she returned after the lockdown months, she was just overwhelmed by the amount of stuff".