Going forward, growth is really the wrong way to look at the economy. The current model we seem to chase - I'm provocatively calling more crap more profits - rewards companies for making things that break quickly, become obsolete, or need constant replacement. Fast fashion that falls apart after a few washes, smartphones designed to performance crater after two years, single-use subscription software that turns "ownership" into endless rental fees, endless etcs
As clean renewable energy gets more efficient and cheaper, it will actually reduce GDP in the energy sector while improving our quality of life, reducing pollution, cheaper bills; let alone potentially solving climate problems. Clean energy has to be subsidized in the west because it works so well (driving costs down) that it's not profitable enough to attract private investment. China's savvy approach with massive state investment in renewables, regardless of short-term profitability, has further driven costs down globally. The point being, by the GDP growth metric, cheaper energy looks like economic decline. By any sensible measure of progress, it's a huge win!
We can't expect capitalism to solve our fundamental utility, environmental, and health problems. The most profitable approach is often to create or maintain the problem; Preventing disease is less profitable than treating it, durable infrastructure is less profitable than constant repairs, the better the solution works for society, the worse it often works for profit-maximization. Can a profit-based system fix a problem it helped create, especially when fixing it undermines profits? We’ll need to go beyond profit logiic through policy, public action, and cultural shifts have a better chance to succeed.