In 1987 when the United Nations’ Brundtland Report, Our Common Future, appeared to worldwide fanfare, its slogan of “sustainable development” reassured environmentalists, who focused on the term “sustainable,” while pleasing business interests, who understood “development” to mean continued material growth. It seemed we could have it all. But …

American business thrives on easy money—not low-interest money from banks, but stupendous sums of money from Congress, passed on through the departments of the federal government. Some think the system should properly be called “subsidism,” not capitalism. Whatever we think of this mechanism, it created the victorious war machine …