The Standing Forest · Chapter Three
Where the Ring Leaks
Ammanuel Santa Anna · ORCID 0009-0008-3244-0306
Chapter Three of The Standing Forest: Doughnut Economics for Leaders and Households, with the Figures You Already Hold.
Abstract
An idea that has never been argued with has not yet been used. The steady state and the doughnut have been argued with for half a century, by economists who were neither careless nor hostile, and the arguments are worth knowing in their best form. A leader who brings the doughnut into a boardroom will meet each of them within the first hour, usually from the most thoughtful person in the room. A household that tries to live by it will meet several of them at the kitchen table. Chapter 2 traced the idea from Mill's stationary state to Kate Raworth's ring. This chapter takes six objections in turn. For each, it states the criticism as its strongest advocate would, says what the evidence supports, and then gives a way through that leaves the idea more useful than before the objection was raised. None of them is fatal. Several of them improve the idea considerably.
Cite this chapter
Santa Anna, A. (2026). Where the Ring Leaks. In The Standing Forest. Luminous Prosperity Inc. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.23989546
@incollection{santaanna2026the3,
author = {Santa Anna, Ammanuel},
title = {Where the Ring Leaks},
booktitle = {The Standing Forest},
chapter = {3},
publisher = {Luminous Prosperity Inc.},
year = {2026},
doi = {10.5281/zenodo.23989546},
url = {https://business.hautelumiere.life/library/the-standing-forest/03-where-the-ring-leaks/}
}
References
- Nordhaus, W. D., Stavins, R. N., & Weitzman, M. L. (1992). Lethal Model 2: The Limits to Growth revisited. Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, 1992(2), 1–59. https://doi.org/10.2307/2534581
- Haberl, H., Wiedenhofer, D., Virág, D., Kalt, G., et al. (2020). A systematic review of the evidence on decoupling of GDP, resource use and GHG emissions, part II: synthesizing the insights. Environmental Research Letters, 15(6), 065003. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ab842a
- Hickel, J., & Kallis, G. (2020). Is green growth possible? New Political Economy, 25(4), 469–486 (published online 2019). https://doi.org/10.1080/13563467.2019.1598964
- Steffen, W., Richardson, K., Rockström, J., Cornell, S. E., et al. (2015). Planetary boundaries: Guiding human development on a changing planet. Science, 347(6223). https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1259855
- Vogel, J., Steinberger, J. K., O'Neill, D. W., Lamb, W. F., et al. (2021). Socio-economic conditions for satisfying human needs at low energy use: An international analysis of social provisioning. Global Environmental Change, 69, 102287. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2021.102287
- O'Neill, D. W., Fanning, A. L., Lamb, W. F., & Steinberger, J. K. (2018). A good life for all within planetary boundaries. Nature Sustainability, 1(2), 88–95. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-018-0021-4
- Fanning, A. L., O'Neill, D. W., Hickel, J., & Roux, N. (2022). The social shortfall and ecological overshoot of nations. Nature Sustainability, 5(1), 26–36. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-021-00799-z
Every chapter of The Standing Forest
- Chapter OneThe Line on the Mapdoi:10.5281/zenodo.23989543
- Chapter TwoThe Economy Has a Coastlinedoi:10.5281/zenodo.23989545
- Chapter ThreeWhere the Ring Leaksdoi:10.5281/zenodo.23989546
- Chapter FourThe Organism and Its Habitatdoi:10.5281/zenodo.23989547
- Chapter FiveA City Draws Its Ringdoi:10.5281/zenodo.23989548
- Chapter SixA Government Changes What It Countsdoi:10.5281/zenodo.23989549
- Chapter SevenThe Forest That Was Paid to Standdoi:10.5281/zenodo.23989550
- Chapter EightHow to Know It Workeddoi:10.5281/zenodo.23989551
- Chapter NineThe Field Manualdoi:10.5281/zenodo.23989552
- Chapter TenThe Hard Conversationsdoi:10.5281/zenodo.23989553
- Chapter ElevenThe Household Ringdoi:10.5281/zenodo.23989554
- Chapter TwelveThe Standing Forestdoi:10.5281/zenodo.23989555
- Chapter ThirteenThe Workbookdoi:10.5281/zenodo.23989556
The other books in the library
- Ecstatic Economics · The Luminous Business MethodologyCash Asleep in the Buildingdoi:10.5281/zenodo.23989319
- Ecstatic Economics · The Luminous Business MethodologyChange That Staysdoi:10.5281/zenodo.23989557
- Ecstatic Economics · The Luminous Business Methodology · Book TwoEarneddoi:10.5281/zenodo.23989328
- Ecstatic Economics · Volume IEnough by Designdoi:10.5281/zenodo.23989348
- Ecstatic Economics · The Luminous Business MethodologyLuminous Integral Leadershipdoi:10.5281/zenodo.23989368
- Ecstatic Economics · The Luminous Morphic Marketing SeriesLuminous Morphic Marketingdoi:10.5281/zenodo.23989389
- Ecstatic Economics · The Luminous Business Methodology · Book OneMindful Leadership Masterydoi:10.5281/zenodo.23989430
- Ecstatic EconomicsOwning the Workdoi:10.5281/zenodo.23988988
- Ecstatic EconomicsThe Channel Keeps Itdoi:10.5281/zenodo.23989022
- Ecstatic Economics · The Luminous Business MethodologyThe Customer Already Told Youdoi:10.5281/zenodo.23989055
- Ecstatic Economics · Volume IIIThe Economy That Keeps Becomingdoi:10.5281/zenodo.23989451
- Ecstatic Economics · Volume VThe Embedded Marketdoi:10.5281/zenodo.23989474
- Ecstatic Economics · Volume VIThe Gain Was Always Shareddoi:10.5281/zenodo.23989502
- Ecstatic EconomicsThe Long Clockdoi:10.5281/zenodo.23989072
- Ecstatic Economics · The Luminous Business MethodologyThe Manager's Weekdoi:10.5281/zenodo.23989102
- Ecstatic Economics · Volume IIThe Pasture Was Never Emptydoi:10.5281/zenodo.23989523
- Ecstatic Economics · The Luminous Business MethodologyThe Price Nobody Chargeddoi:10.5281/zenodo.23989120
- Ecstatic EconomicsThe Second Briefdoi:10.5281/zenodo.23989141
- Ecstatic Economics · The Luminous Business MethodologyThe Strategy That Reaches the Floordoi:10.5281/zenodo.23989179
- Ecstatic Economics · The Luminous Business MethodologyWhere the Flow Stopsdoi:10.5281/zenodo.23989196
- Ecstatic Economics · The Luminous Business MethodologyWho Decidesdoi:10.5281/zenodo.23989215
The licence
Free to read, share, quote, translate and teach, non-commercially, for ever, under the Luminous Library Licence 1.0. Every other right is the Author’s. Deposited on Zenodo in the Luminous Prosperity community.