Ecological Economics, Principles & Applications

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Conventional economics is often criticized for failing to reflect adequately the value of clean air and water, species diversity, and social and generational equity. By excluding biophysical and social systems from their analyses, many conventional economists overlook problems of the increasing scale of human impacts and the inequitable distribution of resources. Ecological Economics is an introductory-level textbook for an emerging paradigm that addresses this flaw in much economic thought. The book defines a revolutionary "transdiscipline" that incorporates insights from the biological, physical, and social sciences, and it offers a pedagogically complete examination of this exciting new field. The book provides students with a foundation in traditional neoclassical economic thought, but places that foundation within a new interdisciplinary framework that embraces the linkages among economic growth, environmental degradation, and social inequity. Introducing the three core issues that are the focus of the new transdiscipline -- scale, distribution, and efficiency -- the book is guided by the fundamental question, often assumed but rarely spoken in traditional texts: What is really important to us? After explaining the key roles played by the earth's biotic and abiotic resources in sustaining life, the text is then organized around the main fields in traditional economics: microeconomics, macroeconomics, and international economics. The book also takes an additional step of considering the policy implications of this line of thinking.Ecological Economicsincludes numerous features that make it accessible to a wide range of students: more than thirty text boxes that highlight issues of special importance to students lists of key terms that help students organize the main points in each chapter concise definitions of new terms that are highlighted in the text for easy reference study questions that encourage student exploration beyond the text glossary and list of further readingsAn accompanying workbook presents an innovative, applied problem-based learning approach to teaching economics.While many books have been written on ecological economics, and several textbooks describe basic concepts of the field, this is the only stand-alone textbook that offers a complete explanation of both theory and practice. It will serve an important role in educating a new generation of economists and is an invaluable new text for undergraduate and graduate courses in ecological economics, environmental economics, development economics, human ecology, environmental studies, sustainability science, and community development.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Acknowledgments (p. xv)
• A Note to Instructors (p. xvii)
• Introduction (p. xix)
• Part I An Introduction to Ecological Economics (p. 1)
• Chapter 1 Why Study Economics? (p. 3)
• What Is Economics? (p. 3)
• The Purpose of This Textbook (p. 5)
• Coevolutionary Economics (p. 7)
• The Era of Ecological Constraints (p. 10)
• Big Ideas to Remember (p. 13)
• Chapter 2 The Fundamental Vision (p. 15)
• The Whole and the Part (p. 15)
• Optimal Scale (p. 16)
• Diminishing Marginal Returns and Uneconomic Growth (p. 19)
• A Paradigm Shift (p. 23)
• Say's Law: Supply Creates Its Own Demand (p. 26)
• Leakages and Injections (p. 26)
• Linear Throughput and Thermodynamics (p. 29)
• Big Ideas to Remember (p. 35)
• Chapter 3 Ends, Means, and Policy (p. 37)
• Ends and Means--A Practical Dualism (p. 37)
• The Presuppositions of Policy (p. 43)
• Determinism and Relativism (p. 44)
• The Ends-Means Spectrum (p. 48)
• Three Strategies for Integrating Ecology and Economics (p. 50)
• Big Ideas to Remember (p. 56)
• Conclusions to Part I (p. 57)
• Part II The Containing and Sustaining Ecosystem: the Whole (p. 59)
• Chapter 4 The Nature of Resources and the Resources of Nature (p. 61)
• A Finite Planet (p. 62)
• The Laws of Thermodynamics (p. 64)
• Stock-Flow Resources and Fund-Service Resources (p. 70)
• Excludability and Rivalness (p. 72)
• Goods and Services Provided by the Sustaining System (p. 74)
• Big Ideas to Remember (p. 76)
• Chapter 5 Abiotic Resources (p. 77)
• Fossil Fuels (p. 78)
• Mineral Resources (p. 83)
• Water (p. 87)
• Ricardian Land (p. 88)
• Solar Energy (p. 89)
• Summary Points (p. 91)
• Big Ideas to Remember (p. 92)
• Chapter 6 Biotic Resources (p. 93)
• Ecosystem Structure and Function (p. 93)
• Renewable Resources (p. 98)
• Ecosystem Services (p. 103)
• Waste Absorption Capacity (p. 107)
• Big Ideas to Remember (p. 110)
• Chapter 7 From Empty World to Full World (p. 111)
• Fossil Fuels (p. 113)
• Mineral Resources (p. 116)
• Water (p. 116)
• Renewable Resources (p. 118)
• Waste Absorption Capacity (p. 119)
• Big Ideas to Remember (p. 121)
• Conclusions to Part II (p. 122)
• Part III Microeconomics (p. 123)
• Chapter 8 The Basic Market Equation (p. 125)
• Components of the Equation (p. 126)
• What Does the Market Equation Mean? (p. 131)
• Monopoly and the Basic Market Equation (p. 133)
• Non-Price Adjustments (p. 134)
• Supply and Demand (p. 136)
• Big Ideas to Remember (p. 140)
• Chapter 9 Supply and Demand (p. 141)
• A Shift in the Curve Versus Movement Along the Curve (p. 141)
• Equilibrium P and Q, Shortage and Surplus (p. 143)
• Elasticity of Demand and Supply (p. 146)
• The Production Function (p. 148)
• The Utility Function (p. 152)
• Big Ideas to Remember (p. 155)
• Chapter 10 Market Failures (p. 157)
• Characteristics of Market Goods (p. 157)
• Rivalness (p. 159)
• Open Access Regimes (p. 161)
• Excludable and Nonrival Goods (p. 164)
• Pure Public Goods (p. 168)
• Externalities (p. 175)
• Missing Markets (p. 180)
• Summary Points (p. 182)
• Big Ideas to Remember (p. 183)
• Chapter 11 Market Failures and Abiotic Resources (p. 185)
• Fossil Fuels (p. 186)
• Mineral Resources (p. 192)
• Freshwater (p. 196)
• Ricardian Land (p. 198)
• Solar Energy (p. 200)
• Big Ideas to Remember (p. 200)
• Chapter 12 Market Failures and Biotic Resources (p. 201)
• Renewable Resource Stocks and Flows (p. 201)
• Renewable Resource Funds and Services (p. 211)
• Waste Absorption Capacity (p. 215)
• Biotic and Abiotic Resources: The Whole System (p. 218)
• Big Ideas to Remember (p. 219)
• Conclusions to Part III (p. 220)
• Part IV Macroeconomics (p. 221)
• Chapter 13 Macroeconomic Concepts: GNP and Welfare (p. 223)
• A Troubled Marriage (p. 224)
• Gross National Product (p. 228)
• Sustainable Income (p. 232)
• Alternative Measures of Welfare: MEW and ISEW (p. 233)
• Beyond Consumption-Based Indicators of Welfare (p. 237)
• Big Ideas to Remember (p. 244)
• Chapter 14 Money (p. 245)
• Virtual Wealth (p. 248)
• Seigniorage (p. 249)
• The Fractional Reserve System (p. 252)
• Money as a Public Good (p. 253)
• Money and Thermodynamics (p. 255)
• Big Ideas to Remember (p. 258)
• Chapter 15 Distribution (p. 259)
• Pareto Optimality (p. 259)
• The Distribution of Income and Wealth (p. 262)
• The Functional and Personal Distribution of Income (p. 263)
• Measuring Distribution (p. 264)
• Consequences of Distribution for Community and Health (p. 267)
• Intertemporal Distribution of Wealth (p. 268)
• Big Ideas to Remember (p. 276)
• Chapter 16 The IS-LM Model (p. 277)
• IS: The Real Sector (p. 279)
• LM: The Monetary Sector (p. 282)
• Combining IS and LM (p. 285)
• Exogenous Changes in IS and LM (p. 286)
• IS-LM and Monetary and Fiscal Policy (p. 289)
• IS-LM in the Real World (p. 299)
• Adapting IS-LM to Ecological Economics (p. 302)
• Big Ideas to Remember (p. 304)
• Conclusions to Part IV (p. 305)
• Part V International Trade (p. 307)
• Chapter 17 International Trade (p. 309)
• The Classical Theory: Comparative Advantage (p. 309)
• Kinks in the Theory (p. 312)
• Capital Mobility and Comparative Advantage (p. 314)
• Absolute Advantage (p. 316)
• Globalization vs. Internationalization (p. 317)
• The Bretton Woods Institutions (p. 318)
• The World Trade Organization (p. 319)
• Summary Points (p. 321)
• Big Ideas to Remember (p. 321)
• Chapter 18 Globalization (p. 323)
• Efficient Allocation (p. 323)
• Sustainable Scale (p. 331)
• Just Distribution (p. 333)
• Summary Points (p. 340)
• Big Ideas to Remember (p. 341)
• Chapter 19 International Flows and Macroeconomic Policy (p. 343)
• Balance of Payments (p. 344)
• Exchange Rate Regimes (p. 344)
• Capital Mobility and National Policy Levers (p. 346)
• Economic Stability (p. 348)
• Big Ideas to Remember (p. 355)
• Conclusions to Part V (p. 356)
• Part VI Policy (p. 357)
• Chapter 20 General Policy Design Principles (p. 359)
• The Six Design Principles (p. 360)
• Which Policy Comes First? (p. 363)
• Controlling Throughput (p. 365)
• Price vs. Quantity as the Policy Variable (p. 366)
• Source vs. Sink (p. 368)
• Policy and Property Rights (p. 369)
• Big Ideas to Remember (p. 372)
• Chapter 21 Sustainable Scale (p. 373)
• Direct Regulation (p. 373)
• Pigouvian Taxes (p. 376)
• Pigouvian Subsidies (p. 378)
• Tradeable Permits (p. 379)
• Policy in Practice (p. 385)
• Big Ideas to Remember (p. 387)
• Chapter 22 Just Distribution (p. 389)
• Caps on Income and Wealth (p. 390)
• Minimum Income (p. 393)
• Distributing Returns from the Factors of Production (p. 395)
• Additional Policies (p. 404)
• Big Ideas to Remember (p. 404)
• Chapter 23 Efficient Allocation (p. 405)
• Pricing and Valuing Nonmarket Goods and Services (p. 405)
• Macro-Allocation (p. 412)
• Spatial Aspects of Nonmarket Goods (p. 415)
• Redefining Efficiency (p. 422)
• Big Ideas to Remember (p. 424)
• Looking Ahead (p. 425)
• Glossary (p. 429)
• Suggested Readings (p. 443)
• About the Authors (p. 447)
• Index (p. 449)