Environment and Economy

As environmental issues move to the centre of the political debate, more attention is being focused on the role our economy has played in creating the ecological crisis, and what a sustainable economy might look like. This book offers an insight into the history of thinking that has linked economy a [...]
Visa längre beskrivning

As environmental issues move to the centre of the political debate, more attention is being focused on the role our economy has played in creating the ecological crisis, and what a sustainable economy might look like. This book offers an insight into the history of thinking that has linked economy and environment including discussions of environmental economics, ecological economics, and green and socialist approaches to economics. "Environment and Economy" begins by introducing readers to the pioneers of this field, such as Fritz Schumacher and Paul Ehrlich, who first drew attention to the disastrous consequences for our environment of our ever-expanding economy. The second part of the book describes the main academic responses to the need to resolve the tension between economy and environment: environmental economics, ecological economics, green economics, and anti-capitalist economics. Part III is structured around key themes including an introduction to economic instruments such as taxes and regulation; pollution and resource depletion; growth; globalisation vs. localisation; and climate change.Each key issues is approached from a range of different perspectives, and working policies are presented in detail. In spite of the success of the environmental movement in drawing attention to the crisis facing us, there has been comparatively little attention focused on the way the operation of the global economy contributes to this crisis. The aim of this book is to provide an account of the way that the various traditions of economic thought have approached the environment, bringing them together for the first time within one volume. The book will provide readers in a wide range of disciplines with basic information about how the interaction between economy and environment has been addressed. No knowledge of economics on the part of the reader will be assumed. The book will also be of interest to the general reader and further reading will be recommended for each theme addressed.