What do you think?
Rate this book
Valuing the Earth: Economics, Ecology, Ethics
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.
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
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
399 pages, Paperback
First published November 24, 1992
3 people are currently reading
174 people want to read
About the author
Herman E. Daly
42 books75 followersDr. 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.
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.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 17, 2023
While Valuing the Earth is about as far from pop-ecology meant for mass consumption as you can get, the insights held within are certainly deserving of a wider audience. The thesis of the book can be summed up in a single, oft-repeated sentiment: infinite growth simply isn't possible on a finite planet.
The collection of 20 essays by economists, environmentalists, biologists, geologists, theologians, and ecologists (and of course, ecological economists) was originally compiled in the '70s at the beginning of the ecological economics movement and around the time of "Limits to Growth." It was then re-released in the early 1990s with additional essays, as well as updates and addendums from original authors. The essays range from dense, jargon-heavy economic theory accompanied by charts and graphs and variables to religious, historical, and moral explorations of the problems surrounding infinite growth and the endless production/consumption machine. As such, there is perhaps an essay for every reader, though some are far less accessible than others.
What this collection lacks in accessibility, however, it more than makes up for in urgency. These issues were pressing in the 70s, gained more popular attention in the 90s, and today have possibly reached a tipping point. It's no coincidence that the book talks about future discounting and the human brain's inability to worry about things too far in the future. The further into the future we look, the less we're biologically programmed to care. But with climate change turning from a threat to a reality, and with global resource wars looming on the horizon, perhaps this book is suddenly falling into the "needed now more than ever" category.
The collection of 20 essays by economists, environmentalists, biologists, geologists, theologians, and ecologists (and of course, ecological economists) was originally compiled in the '70s at the beginning of the ecological economics movement and around the time of "Limits to Growth." It was then re-released in the early 1990s with additional essays, as well as updates and addendums from original authors. The essays range from dense, jargon-heavy economic theory accompanied by charts and graphs and variables to religious, historical, and moral explorations of the problems surrounding infinite growth and the endless production/consumption machine. As such, there is perhaps an essay for every reader, though some are far less accessible than others.
What this collection lacks in accessibility, however, it more than makes up for in urgency. These issues were pressing in the 70s, gained more popular attention in the 90s, and today have possibly reached a tipping point. It's no coincidence that the book talks about future discounting and the human brain's inability to worry about things too far in the future. The further into the future we look, the less we're biologically programmed to care. But with climate change turning from a threat to a reality, and with global resource wars looming on the horizon, perhaps this book is suddenly falling into the "needed now more than ever" category.
April 14, 2007
Read for my Ecological Economics class. A collection of essays that deal with various aspects of ecological economics. For the most part, I enjoyed the book and its themes. And it was very interesting to finally read Garret Hardin's Tragedy of the Commons
June 11, 2007
collection of essays.
September 20, 2012
A mind shifter concerning economics
August 13, 2023
(Review from 2023)
Read back in college, one of the first environmental policy/economics books I read. I remember it was fine, some essays really dragged though.
Read back in college, one of the first environmental policy/economics books I read. I remember it was fine, some essays really dragged though.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews