Transcript Bild 1 - Uppsala University

ecological economics –
what is it, and what differs it from
environmental economics?
Eva Friman 2011
the concept of economic growth as a paradigm
shift in economic thought in the 1950s
classical economics neoclassical
economics
ontology
time- and space bound
national wealth
wealth universal in time
and space
epistemology/
theory
economics as
normative/
contextualization
economics as valueneutral/
de-contextualization
(concrete and specific)
(abstract and general)
limited economic
expansion
unlimited economic
growth
conclusion
on limits
Eva Friman 2011
modernist economic discourse
Eva Friman 2011
neoclassical economics
Eva Friman 2011
classical theory
institutional theory
Eva Friman 2011
basic assumptions
environmental economics
ecological economic
one-dimensional human
nature
multi-dimensional human nature
insatiable needs
satiable needs, insatiable wants
efficiency in focus;
distribution and equity
secondary (if that)
distribution and equity in focus;
efficiency secondary
nature as instrumental –
value if value given
nature as intrinsically valuable
scarcity as budget
restrictions
scarcity as physical restrictions
Eva Friman 2011
needs & wants
needs
satiable, must be
satisfied to survive
wants
insatiable, must not
be satisfied to survive
Eva Friman 2011
basic assumptions
environmental economics
ecological economics
economy as autonomous
economy as subsystem to ecology
environment as choice of
consumption
environment as basis for consumption
optimizing allocation and
externalities
optimizing physical scale
environmental crisis as result
of lack of clearly defined
property rights and nonpriced externalities
environmental crisis as result of a
free-floating economic system
Eva Friman 2011
weak and strong sustainability
natural capital
cultural capital
human made capital
– substitutes or complements?
Eva Friman 2011
weak and strong sustainability
substitutes
complements
weak sustainability
strong sustainability
(priority to efficiency)
(priority to sustainability)
keeping total capital intact
and
keeping intact human made
natural capital separately, plus
current situation means natural
capital needs to grow
Eva Friman 2011
environmental
economics
ecological
economics
– pricing the environment
– defining property rights
– environmental investments
– redistributing wealth
(global North/global South)
(i.e. reforming neoclassical theory)
(investing in nature/natural capital,
reducing through-put, i.e. GDP)
Eva Friman 2011
environ. econ.
sustainability
ecol. econ.
sustainability
weak sustainability
sustainable economic growth
strong sustainability
non-growing through-put
(change in high-income countries’
T; eco-modernism)
(change in high-income countries’
T and A; eco-logism)
Eva Friman 2011
GDP and ISEW
Eva Friman 2011