Ecological Economics and the Ecology of Economics: Essays in Criticism

by Herman E. Daly, Edward Elgar

In this controversial new book Herman Daly, a leading commentator on the environment, offers lively criticism of existing work on ecological economics and the economics of ecology. The theme throughout the book is about changes in perspective, attitudes and policies required to avoid uneconomic growth - that is, the impoverishment that results when the environmental and social costs of growth exceed the benefits. Key issues addressed growth economics misunderstandings of thermodynamics economic development and population globalization money humans in the ecosystem This major new book will be of interest to economists, ecologists, environmentalists, public policy scholars and activists as well as social philosophers.

Genres: Economics

208 pages, Paperback

First published May 28, 1999

About the author

Dr. Herman Edward Daly is an American ecological economist and professor at the School of Public Policy of University of Maryland, College Park in the United States. He was Senior Economist in the Environment Department of the World Bank, where he helped to develop policy guidelines related to sustainable development. While there, he was engaged in environmental operations work in Latin America. He is closely associated with theories of a Steady state economy.

Before joining the World Bank, Daly was Alumni Professor of Economics at Louisiana State University. He was a co-founder and associate editor of the journal, Ecological Economics.

He is also a recipient of an Honorary Right Livelihood Award, the Heineken Prize for Environmental Science from the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Sophie Prize (Norway), the Leontief Prize from the Global Development and Environment Institute and was chosen as Man of the Year 2008 by Adbusters magazine.

He is widely credited with having originated the idea of uneconomic growth, though some credit this to Marilyn Waring who developed it more completely in her study of the UN System of National Accounts.

Reviews

[Ben · Rating 3 out of 5]

DNF, read like half of it. Agreed with much of it, but didn't push my thinking in any way. Felt a little dated.