David McWilliams: Degrowth is supposed to save the world, but it's not that simple

A few weeks ago, as Europe was beginning to simmer, I caught the overnight train from Brussels to Berlin. Hoping to do the right thing, rather than fly, I bought a ticket for a new service: Euro-Sleeper. The carriages are pure 1970s, with Slovakian markings, most probably made in Czechoslovakia about the time the test-card signalled that telly was over and it was bedtime. Unlike modern trains, these carriages had no wifi, no docking ports, in fact no electricity points of any type. There was no aircon but, unlike the sealed carriage of the 21st century, the windows opened wide…