Transcript The Steady State Economy and the Mission of the U.S. Fish

Brian Czech
• Why teach ecological economics?
• Three major themes
• Course objectives
• Syllabus
“Natural resources originate from
the mind, not the ground, and
therefore are not depletable.”
Robert L. Bradley, Jr., 2002
Perfect Storm in Political Economy
• Henry George
• Progress and Poverty, 1879
• George vs. land barons
• Incipient tax code at stake
• Establishment of American economics
• The Corruption of Economics
(Gaffney, 1994)
Y =  (K, L)
Czech, B. 2009. The neoclassical production function as a relic
of anti-George politics: implications for ecological economics.
Ecological Economics 68:2193-2197.
• Solow model
• Lucas model
• Romer model
Y =  (K, L)
Business
Household
Business
Household
• Ecological economics movement
• Laws of thermodynamics
• Principles of ecology
Herman Daly
Natural
Natural
Capital
Capital
Pollutants
Heat
Natural
Natural
Capital
Capital
Pollutants
Heat
Scale
(Sustainability)
Daly
Distribution
Allocation
(Justice)
(Efficiency)
Martinez-Alier
Costanza
• Provide a historical sketch of economic
thought in the post-mercantile world.
• Using examples, describe why the principles
of ecology are relevant to economics.
• Identify the laws of thermodynamics and
discuss how they affect the development of
ecosystems and economies.
• Provide a general description of the scope
and philosophy of neoclassical economics.
• Identify the factors of economic production
and discuss how their relative importance
has evolved in economic theory.
• Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of
neoclassical economics in terms of its
ecological foundations.
• Describe the trophic structure of the human
economy.
• Identify the sources of economic growth and
discuss the interaction among these
sources.
• Describe the status and trends of the factors
of production.
• Explain why biodiversity and other natural
resources conservation has become a
function of macroeconomic policy.
• Identify the goals and most prominent
policies of neoclassical and ecological
economics.
• Describe the unique political pressures
placed upon the economics profession and
how these affect theory and policy.
• Describe the economic policies and
prominent political aspects of the steady
state economy.
• Define the term “political economy” and
propose a model of political economy
conducive to a sustainable society and uses
of natural resources.
• Time of the essence
–For ecological economics instruction
–For us! (Here too, even.)
• Undergrad or Grad (One Course)
• Significant ecology, economics, and
teaching background
Daly, H. E., and J. Farley. 2003.
Ecological economics: principles
and applications. Island Press,
Washington, DC. 450pp.
• 23 chapters
• Strong focus on 3 themes
• Second edition soon
Jackson
Czech
Victor
• An Introduction to Ecological Economics
• The Containing and Sustaining Ecosystem
• Microeconomics
• Macroeconomics
• International Trade
• Policy
• More historical background
• More principles of ecology
– Trophic levels
– Niche breadth
– Competitive exclusion
• More about technological progress
GDP
K
Natural capital
allocated to
economy of
nature
Natural capital
allocated to
human economy
Time
K
To conserve
fish and
wildlife...
...maintain steady state
economy sufficiently
below K.
Time
X natural capital allocable
KU
GDP
KT
Natural capital
allocated
to economy of
nature
Natural capital allocated
to human economy
Time
K
U
X natural capital (still) allocable
GDP
Capital-free growth zone
Natural capital
allocated
to economy of
nature
KT2
KT1
Natural capital allocated
to human economy
Time
• Remind students of themes.
• Keep discussions focused on textbook.
• Seek optimum participation.
• Allocate more time to material you are
familiar with.
• Do supplement text(s) with ecology.
• CASSE, www.steadystate.org
• International Society for Ecological Economics
• Gund Institute for Ecological Economics
• U.S. Society for Ecological Economics
• Economics for Equity and the Environment, “E3 Network”
• Global Development and Environment Institute, Tufts U.
• The Post-Autistic Economics Network
• Bibliography
• Reprints
• Slideshows
• Videos
• Speakers
• News
www.steadystate.org