The thing is not all wealth is raw materials. While we are at least thousands of times richer than peasant herders from ancient times we don't have 17k head of cattle each.
While there is likely still a limit assuming economic growth must stop entirely is overly simplistic. There are many areas where the limit is research - drugs themselves are fairly cheap to manufacture but expensive to develop, test, and set up initial manufacturing infrastructure - but once done the expenses are marginal. Essentially to continue growth we need to work smarter not harder - often by increasing efficiency and decreasing input needs.
Exactly. People tend to look at a chart of energy use per capita and GDP growth and assume that the same correlation must continue to hold.
But a better designed game or app doesn't necessarily require more energy to run. I can envision a economy where people trade trade digital goods, and that economy can keep growing pretty much without limit because the value is all based on intangible factors.
Imagine a hypothetical world where everyone is a programmer and everyone has the same small 20 watt computer. Would people just give up and stagnate? Or would they continue to improve and create more value for other users by making more efficient use of the 20 watt computers they are stuck with?
We aren't making any more land though - property prices just seem to grow and grow and millenials have little hope of owning a house at the same age or with the same quality that their (often poorer) parents did.
The funny thing in the US at least is that we have plenty of land that comparatively nobody wants since the jobs aren't there. Lack of development and transit structure appears to be more of a limitation than just space want - people are living with stranger roommates in single family homes for instance - they're not seeking nor getting private spaces. Telework could help with that but it had oddly failed to materialize for what can most optimistically be attributed to ergonomic reasons in the productivity gearing sense. Real estate is frustratingly sticky however in that people and institutions often refuse to sell low even in the face of depressed markets and low occupancy. Perfectly rational for them to do so when possible - using their positions for land speculation was one of the low key examples of founding father corruption.
While there is likely still a limit assuming economic growth must stop entirely is overly simplistic. There are many areas where the limit is research - drugs themselves are fairly cheap to manufacture but expensive to develop, test, and set up initial manufacturing infrastructure - but once done the expenses are marginal. Essentially to continue growth we need to work smarter not harder - often by increasing efficiency and decreasing input needs.