AbstractThe issue of sustainability has received various treatments over the past two decades. If in the neoclassical logic the concept of sustainable growth receives a quantitative understanding (i.e. what is called currently weak sustainability, dominant in environmental economic policies), the heterodox positions in recent years (i.e. what is named strong sustainability, ecological economics etc) rather emphasizes the qualitative side of growth (i.e. sustainable growth, human development etc). Our main intention is to argue for the last conceptual position of sustainability, where the efficient allocation of resources, the increase of employment and the inter-generational preservation of the natural environment are inherently constitutiv...