Valuing the Earth, second edition Economics, Ecology, Ethics

by Daly, Herman E.; Townsend, Kenneth N.

• ISBN13: 9780262540681
• ISBN10: 0262540681
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1992-11-24
• Publisher: The MIT Press

Summary

Valuing the Earth collects more than twenty classic and recent essays that broaden economic thinking by setting the economy in its proper ecological and ethical context. They vividly demonstrate that, contrary to current macroeconomic preoccupations, continued growth on a planet of finite resources cannot be physically or economically sustained and is morally undesirable. Among the issues addressed are population growth, resource use, pollution, theology (east and west), energy, and economic growth. Their common theme is the notion, popular with classical economists from Malthus to Mill, that an economic stationary state is more healthful to life on earth than unlimited growth. A number of essays in the first edition have become classics and have been retained for this edition, which adds six new essays. Herman E. Daly is Senior Economist at the World Bank. Kenneth N. Townsend is Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Economics at Hampden-Sydney College. Contributors: Kenneth E. Boulding. John Cobb. Herman E. Daly. Anne H. Ehrlich. Paul R. Ehrlich. Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen. Garrett Hardin. John P. Holdren. M. King Hubbert. C. S. Lewis. E. F. Schumacher. Gerald Alonzo Smith. T. H. Tietenberg. Kenneth N. Townsend.

Author Biography

Herman E. Daly is Senior Economist at the World Bank.

Kenneth N. Townsend is Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Economics at Hampden-Sydney College.

Table of Contents

Preface
Introduction	p. 1
Introduction to Essays toward a Steady-State Economy	p. 11
Ecology: Ultimate Means and Biophysical Constraints
Introduction	p. 51
Why Isn't Everyone as Scared as We Are?	p. 55
Availability, Entropy, and the Laws of Thermodynamics	p. 69
The Entropy Law and the Economic Problem	p. 75
Selections from "Energy and Economic Myths"	p. 89
Exponential Growth as a Transient Phenomenon in Human History	p. 113
The Tragedy of the Commons	p. 127
Second Thoughts on "The Tragedy of the Commons"	p. 145
Ethics: The Ultimate End and Value Constraints
Introduction	p. 155
The Age of Plenty: A Christian View	p. 159
Buddhist Economics	p. 173
The Purpose of Wealth: A Historical Perspective	p. 183
Ecology, Ethics, and Theology	p. 211
The Abolition of Man	p. 229
Economics: Interaction of Ends and Means
Introduction	p. 245
On Economics as a Life Science	p. 249
Sustainable Growth: An Impossibility Theorem	p. 267
Steady-State Economies and the Command Economy	p. 275
The Economics of the Coming Spaceship Earth	p. 297
Spaceship Earth Revisited	p. 311
Using Economic Incentives to Maintain Our Environment	p. 315
The Steady-State Economy: Toward a Political Economy of Biophysical Equilibrium and Moral Growth	p. 325
Postscript: Some Common Misunderstandings and Further Issues Concerning a Steady-State Economy	p. 365
Index	p. 383
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