Nate Otto is a 2008 graduate of the University of Oregon, pursuing a future in political science research, education, and activism. "I believe the Internet has opened up the public sphere so broadly that we are hardly beginning to explore the potential for democratic participation in government. I want to use new tools to fight for true accountable democracy."

Follow @ottonomy on Twitter.

This presentation is the premise to an argument about growth. Growth is probably the most important economic indicator under present circumstances (It's how we define a "depression" versus a "recession", for example). I want to take five minutes to explore a few sketches about what economic growth (and failure to grow) means.

What is the growth problem?
*Our currency comes from the Federal Reserve as the principal of a loan. Such a loan must be repaid with interest.
*In order for the system to repay its loans with interest, it must continually grow to sustain additional loans, taken out to pay the interest on the previous loans, and the interest on these loans.
*Failure to constantly grow the economy results in some economic players paying off their loans and others being unable to, resulting in foreclosures, bankruptcies, and the inability to hire.

Understanding the growth problem, I think, is critical to being able to imagine a future not subject to this problem... but I must leave those imaginings until after we have cultivated knowledge of growth.