On Herman Daly’s Steady-State Economy

This dissertation briefly studies on steady-state economy idea which put forward by Herman Daly, a famous American ecological economist, additionally explores its significance to China’s ecological civilization construction.Daly’s steady-state economy idea provides a new perspective to understand economics. Daly placed reasonably economics in the intermediate links of purpose-means sequence that constitute by physics, economics, philosophy and ethics, stressing that the economy depends on the physical environment (especially the laws of thermodynamics), and that the economy is truly committed to promote the true welfare of the people, and be conducive to the realization of human being’s ultimate purpose. Then Daly insisted that, on the one hand, we should keep the material wealth (capital) system and population system stable at the low-circulation rate; on the other hand, we should focus on maximizing service on the basis of fair distribution of wealth, rather than maximizing economic growth.In essence, Daly’s steady-state economy, as a new economic paradigm different from classic ones, characterized as sustainable, ecological and moral economy. Daly’s steady-state economy put some insights into the concept of overall development beyond the simple economic growth, population control, fair wealth distribution and welfare policy. All of these maybe give us inspiration for the ecological civilization construction in China.