Download or read book Nature s Economy written by Donald Worster and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1994-06-24 with total page 528 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Nature's Economy is a wide-ranging investigation of ecology's past, first published in 1994.

Download or read book The New Economy of Nature written by Gretchen Cara Daily and published by Island Press. This book was released on 2012-09-26 with total page 250 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why shouldn't people who deplete our natural assets have to pay, and those who protect them reap profits? Conservation-minded entrepreneurs and others around the world are beginning to ask just that question, as the increasing scarcity of natural resources becomes a tangible threat to our own lives and our hopes for our children. The New Economy of Nature brings together Gretchen Daily, one of the world's leading ecologists, with Katherine Ellison, a Pulitzer-prize winning journalist, to offer an engaging and informative look at a new "new economy" -- a system recognizing the economic value of natural systems and the potential profits in protecting them.Through engaging stories from around the world, the authors introduce readers to a diverse group of people who are pioneering new approaches to conservation. We meet Adam Davis, an American business executive who dreams of establishing a market for buying and selling "ecosystem service units;" John Wamsley, a former math professor in Australia who has found a way to play the stock market and protect native species at the same time; and Dan Janzen, a biologist working in Costa Rica who devised a controversial plan to sell a conservation area's natural waste-disposal services to a local orange juice producer. Readers also visit the Catskill Mountains, where the City of New York purchased undeveloped land instead of building an expensive new water treatment facility; and King County, Washington, where county executive Ron Sims has dedicated himself to finding ways of "making the market move" to protect the county's remaining open space.Daily and Ellison describe the dynamic interplay of science, economics, business, and politics that is involved in establishing these new approaches and examine what will be needed to create successful models and lasting institutions for conservation. The New Economy of Nature presents a fundamentally new way of thinking about the environment and about the economy, and with its fascinating portraits of charismatic pioneers, it is as entertaining as it is informative.

Download or read book Nature written by Geerat Vermeij and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2009-02-09 with total page 460 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From humans to hermit crabs to deep water plankton, all living things compete for locally limiting resources. This universal truth unites three bodies of thought--economics, evolution, and history--that have developed largely in mutual isolation. Here, Geerat Vermeij undertakes a groundbreaking and provocative exploration of the facts and theories of biology, economics, and geology to show how processes common to all economic systems--competition, cooperation, adaptation, and feedback--govern evolution as surely as they do the human economy, and how historical patterns in both human and nonhuman evolution follow from this principle. Using a wealth of examples of evolutionary innovations, Vermeij argues that evolution and economics are one. Powerful consumers and producers exercise disproportionate controls on the characteristics, activities, and distribution of all life forms. Competition-driven demand by consumers, when coupled with supply-side conditions permitting economic growth, leads to adaptation and escalation among organisms. Although disruptions in production halt or reverse these processes temporarily, they amplify escalation in the long run to produce trends in all economic systems toward greater power, higher production rates, and a wider reach for economic systems and their strongest members. Despite our unprecedented power to shape our surroundings, we humans are subject to all the economic principles and historical trends that emerged at life's origin more than 3 billion years ago. Engagingly written, brilliantly argued, and sweeping in scope, Nature: An Economic History shows that the human institutions most likely to preserve opportunity and adaptability are, after all, built like successful living things.

Download or read book The Natural Origins of Economics written by Margaret Schabas and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2009-05-15 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: References to the economy are ubiquitous in modern life, and virtually every facet of human activity has capitulated to market mechanisms. In the early modern period, however, there was no common perception of the economy, and discourses on money, trade, and commerce treated economic phenomena as properties of physical nature. Only in the early nineteenth century did economists begin to posit and identify the economy as a distinct object, divorcing it from natural processes and attaching it exclusively to human laws and agency. In The Natural Origins of Economics, Margaret Schabas traces the emergence and transformation of economics in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries from a natural to a social science. Focusing on the works of several prominent economists—David Hume, Adam Smith, Thomas Malthus, David Ricardo, and John Stuart Mill—Schabas examines their conceptual debt to natural science and thus locates the evolution of economic ideas within the history of science. An ambitious study, The Natural Origins of Economics will be of interest to economists, historians, and philosophers alike.

Download or read book The Nature of Value written by Nick Gogerty and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 2014-07-15 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Nature of Value presents a theory of how economic value functions and how it drives growth, starting with tiny sparks of innovation and scaling all the way up to the full scope of the economy. Nick GogertyÕs exploration of value borrows from a wide array of disciplines, including anthropology, psychology, physics, sociology, and ethics, but most of all, it examines how evolutionÕs processes can help investors understand the economy and how investors can use this new understanding to improve their allocation decisions. Starting with a look at how innovations can help firms succeed, Gogerty looks at the economic niches in which firms compete and explores how firms can create defensive ÒmoatsÓ to enhance their chances of survival. He shows allocators how to adjust their actions for best performance and returns and what to look for when assessing company management, supporting his arguments with extensive data and years of practitioner experience from scientific, social, and economic disciplines. Intuitive illustrations are used to illuminate central concepts and ideas. GogertyÕs practical takeaways, couched in vivid explanations, will help investors of all backgrounds gain fresh insight into market mechanics.

Download or read book The Good the Bad and the Economy written by Louis G. Putterman and published by Hillcrest Publishing Group. This book was released on 2012 with total page 319 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Despite the past century's extraordinary advances in technology and scientific knowledge, today's world is still racked by economic insecurity, vast gulfs between rich and poor, violent conflicts, and daunting environmental problems. What's stopping us from building a world in which there's less inequality and more nurturing of the individual's potential to lead a satisfying life? Does the central role of self-interest in human nature necessitate economic arrangements that condemn us to living on a treadmill of consumerism and insecurity? Will the gap between rich and poor countries ever be bridged? These are the key questions that Brown University economist Louis Putterman's "The Good, the Bad, and the Economy" addresses in surprising new ways.

Download or read book Humanity and Nature in Economic Thought written by Gábor Bíró and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2021-11-29 with total page 305 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Humanity and Nature in Economic Thought: Searching for the Organic Origins of the Economy argues that organic elements seen as incompatible with rational homo economicus have been left out of, or downplayed in, mainstream histories of economic thought. The chapters show that organic aspects (that is, aspects related to sensitive, cognitive or social human qualities) were present in the economic ideas of a wide range of important thinkers including Hume, Smith, Malthus, Mill, Marshall, Keynes, Hayek and the Polanyi brothers. Moreover, the contributors to this thought-provoking volume reveal in turn that these aspects were crucial to how these key figures thought about the economy. This stimulating collection of essays will be of interest to advanced students and scholars of the history of economic thought, economic philosophy, heterodox economics, moral philosophy and intellectual history.

Download or read book The Nature and Essence of Economic Theory written by Joseph A. Schumpeter and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-09-08 with total page 432 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Joseph A. Schumpeter was a monumental figure in the history and development of economics. This work brings together his brilliant lectures, delivered more than a century ago, in its first English-language paperback edition. Here, readers will discover Schumpeter's search for an economic science devoid of moral or political dogma. The Nature and Essence of Economic Theory works out what people should think of pure economics, what its nature is, what its methods and findings are, and where thought takes off from there. The book shows the limitations and weaknesses of nineteenth-century economics and how the field could be and was improved by establishing a fundamental differentiation between 'statistics' and 'dynamics'. To convey his arguments, Schumpeter uses certain axioms that form a consistent, self-contained system and show how sound economic science is based on facts and events rather than presuppositions or definitions. Schumpeter's larger aim, beyond a pedagogic tool, was to deduce changes in the market, trade, and exchange of goods and services. He defined the task of economy as the description of the system and its change tendencies. If that can be achieved unequivocally, without resorting to doctrine or dogma, then the field can be considered self-contained.

Download or read book Ecology The Economy of Nature written by Rick Relyea and published by Macmillan Higher Education. This book was released on 2018-01-11 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This landmark text helped to define introductory ecology courses for over four decades. The text?maintains its signature evolutionary perspective and emphasis on the quantitative aspects of the field, but it has been improved for today's undergraduates--with extensive new pedagogy, including Learning Goals, Concept Checks, fresh examples and fully integrated media resources. Students will especially appreciate the new video tutorials that accompany the Analyzing Ecology essays.

Download or read book Human Well Being and the Natural Environment written by Partha Dasgupta and published by Oxford University Press on Demand. This book was released on 2001-11-15 with total page 328 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Human Well-Being and the Natural Environment, Partha Dasgupta explores ways to measure the quality of life. Although the problem pervades a number of academic disciplines, it is not confined to the academic realm. International organizations regularly publish cross-country estimates of the quality of life, journalists and commentators publicize them, and national governments are obliged to take note of them. Today, quality-of-life indices broker political arguments andtogether form a coin that even helps purchase economic and social policy.It is therefore ironic that indices of human well-being in current use are notably insensitive to our dependence on the natural environment, both at a moment in time and across generations. Moreover, international discussions on economic development in poor regions all too frequently ignore the natural resource base. In developing quality-of-life measures, Professor Dasgupta pays particular attention to the natural environment, illustrating how it can be incorporated, more generally, intoeconomic reasoning in a seamless manner. The result is a treatise that goes beyond quality-of-life measures and offers a comprehensive account of the newly emergent subject of ecological economics. The connections between biodiversity, ecosystem services, resource scarcities, and economic possibilitiesfor the future are developed in a quantitative, but accessible, language. Such familiar terms as 'sustainable development', 'social discount rates', and Earth's 'carrying capacity' are given a firm theoretical underpinning. The theory that is developed is then put to use in extended commentaries on the economics of population, poverty traps, global warming, structural adjustment programmes, and free trade. The author shows that, whether we are interested in valuing the state of affairs in acountry or in evaluating economic policy there, the index that should be used is the economy's wealth, which is the social worth of its capital assets. The concept of wealth adopted here is a comprehensive one, including not only manufactured assets, but also human capital, knowledge, and the naturalenvironment. Wealth is contrasted with such popular measures of human well-being as gross national product and the United Nations Development Programme's Human Development Index.Although the theory developed here is not restricted in its applicability to the circumstances facing poor countries, the exposition is prompted by the author's concerns over the dilemmas facing poor people in those parts of world. Repeatedly, he applies the theory to data on poor countries. The picture that emerges is a sobering one and contrasts sharply with that portrayed in the contemporary literature on economic development.The book has been written not only for fellow economists, but also for students of economics, environmental studies, political science, and political philosophy. It is intended even more broadly for the general citizen interested in human well-being and the centrality of the natural environment to our everyday lives.

Download or read book The Nature of Economies written by Jane Jacobs and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2001-03-13 with total page 212 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The author believes that since human beings "exist wholly within nature as part of natural order in every respect", we should look to the processes of nature for vibrant and flexible models of economic planning. Jacobs draws examples from an array of fields ranging from evolution to ecology and chaos theory to cell biology. Her book is written in the form of a Platonic dialogue, a conversation over coffee among five fictional characters, presenting her ideas in a clear and accessible way.

Download or read book Green Growth That Works written by Lisa Ann Mandle and published by . This book was released on 2019-09-12 with total page 334 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rapid economic development has been a boon to human well-being, but comes at a significant cost to the fertile soils, forests, coastal marshes, and farmland that support all life on earth. If ecosystems collapse, so eventually will human civilization. One solution is inclusive green growth--the efficient use of natural resources. Its genius lies in working with nature rather than against it. Green Growth That Works is the first practical guide to bring together pragmatic finance and policy tools that can make investment in natural capital both attractive and commonplace. Pioneered by leading scholars from the Natural Capital Project, this valuable compendium of proven techniques can guide agencies and organizations eager to make green growth work anywhere in the world.

Download or read book The Economics of Nature and the Nature of Economics written by Cutler J. Cleveland and published by Edward Elgar Publishing. This book was released on 2001-01-01 with total page 303 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The writing style is clear and sophisticated, and the quality of production high. Steve Harrison, Economic Analysis and Policy . . . what we have in this anthropology is a very readable collection of well written articles which explore the limits of both conventional economic theory and new approaches . . . For a general reader involved in sustainable development the book is a good compilation of current approaches . . . The style and technical level in the articles makes this book usable at levels from undergraduate university through the governmental sectors. Its broad range and readable style makes the collection a good working reference volume. Edward J. Linky, Natural Resources Forum This book discusses important recent developments in the theory, concepts and empirical applications of ecological economics and sustainable development. The editors have assembled a fascinating collection of papers from some of the leading scholars in the field of ecological economics. Topics covered include: the contribution of classical economics to ecological economics alternatives to the growth paradigm and Gross Domestic Product valuation in ecological economics and indicators of natural resource scarcity case studies of sustainable development critical reviews of the environmental Kuznets curve green national accounting. This will be an invaluable text for scholars, policy analysts and students interested in sustainable development and ecological, environmental and resource economics.

Download or read book The Economic Consequences of the Peace written by John Maynard Keynes and published by Simon Publications LLC. This book was released on 1920 with total page 312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: John Maynard Keynes, then a rising young economist, participated in the Paris Peace Conference in 1919 as chief representative of the British Treasury and advisor to Prime Minister David Lloyd George. He resigned after desperately trying and failing to reduce the huge demands for reparations being made on Germany. The Economic Consequences of the Peace is Keynes' brilliant and prophetic analysis of the effects that the peace treaty would have both on Germany and, even more fatefully, the world.

Download or read book The National System of Political Economy written by Friedrich List and published by . This book was released on 1916 with total page 434 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book A Culture of Growth written by Joel Mokyr and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2018 with total page 424 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why Enlightenment culture sparked the Industrial Revolution During the late eighteenth century, innovations in Europe triggered the Industrial Revolution and the sustained economic progress that spread across the globe. While much has been made of the details of the Industrial Revolution, what remains a mystery is why it took place at all. Why did this revolution begin in the West and not elsewhere, and why did it continue, leading to today's unprecedented prosperity? In this groundbreaking book, celebrated economic historian Joel Mokyr argues that a culture of growth specific to early modern Europe and the European Enlightenment laid the foundations for the scientific advances and pioneering inventions that would instigate explosive technological and economic development. Bringing together economics, the history of science and technology, and models of cultural evolution, Mokyr demonstrates that culture--the beliefs, values, and preferences in society that are capable of changing behavior--was a deciding factor in societal transformations. Mokyr looks at the period 1500-1700 to show that a politically fragmented Europe fostered a competitive "market for ideas" and a willingness to investigate the secrets of nature. At the same time, a transnational community of brilliant thinkers known as the "Republic of Letters" freely circulated and distributed ideas and writings. This political fragmentation and the supportive intellectual environment explain how the Industrial Revolution happened in Europe but not China, despite similar levels of technology and intellectual activity. In Europe, heterodox and creative thinkers could find sanctuary in other countries and spread their thinking across borders. In contrast, China's version of the Enlightenment remained controlled by the ruling elite. Combining ideas from economics and cultural evolution, A Culture of Growth provides startling reasons for why the foundations of our modern economy were laid in the mere two centuries between Columbus and Newton.

Download or read book The Economic Case for Nature written by The World Bank and published by . This book was released on 2021-11-30 with total page 150 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Economic Case for Nature