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It has not yet been possible to achieve the desired aim of decoupling economic growth from global material demand. Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) represent the backbone of most industrialized economies. Although material efficiency is of vital importance for many SMEs, few of them actually treat it as their top priority. There is a cornucopia of tools and methods available which can be used for material efficiency purposes. These, however, have gained little ground in the SME-field. This work deals with the enabling factors for material efficiency improvements in manufacturing SMEs and projections towards aspects of supply chain and circular economy. A multi-disciplinary decoupling approach for manufacturing SMEs and an implementation roadmap for further practical development are proposed. The approach combines appropriate complexity of technology and socio-economic considerations. It enables a connection of existing methods and the implementation of established information technologies.
The paper analyses the importance of List's views on growth and integration from the perspective of modern approaches to economic growth and international economics. Furthermore, some ideas will be presented on how List's ideas could help to explain and understand current economic developments, such as the crisis of the European Union or the new form of isolationism of the United States of America.