The Green Economy: Environment, Sustainable Development and the Politics of the Future - Softcover

Jacobs, Michael

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0774804742 ISBN 13: 9780774804745

Publisher: UBC Press, 2002

Synopsis

The current controversy over the future of the forest in Clayoquot Sound is seen by many as typifying the unsolvable conflict between jobs and the environment. In The Green Economy, Michael Jacobs rejects both the traditional Green demand for 'zero growth' and the new economic orthodoxy which seeks to give the environment a monetary value. In their place, he defines the concept of 'sustainability,' as founded in a concern for future generations. But what is sustainable development? How can it be achieved?

About this title

About the Author

Michael Jacobs is an environmental economist, consultant on local economic development and environmental policy, and a Research Fellow at the Centre for the Study of Environmental Change, Lancaster University.

Review

Cogent and persuasive ... stands out on the expanding shelves of Green literature. (Financial Times)

Jacobs takes the reader through a thorough and cogent treatment of virtually all the main questions currently at issue in the field of environmental economics. In a field rife with ideological polemic from both critics and defenders of "economic approaches" to environmental problems, it is refreshing to read a clear and even-handed discussion of the issues. Readers interested in the economics and politics of the environment will find themselves both more knowledgeable and more thoughtful about the economics and politics of the environment after reading this book. (John Robinson The Canadian Geographer)

Michael Jacobs is one of the most talented and innovative writers in the environmental movement of the 1990s. (RSA Journal)

The current controversy over the future of the forest in Clayoquot Sound is seen by many as typifying the unsolvable conflict between jobs and the environment. In The Green Economy, Michael Jacobs rejects both the traditional Green demand for 'zero growth' and the new economic orthodoxy which seeks to give the environment a monetary value. In their place, he defines the concept of 'sustainability,' as founded in a concern for future generations.

But what is sustainable development? How can it be achieved? Jacobs explores these questions by analyzing the economics of the environmental crisis, showing how the operation of the 'invisible elbow' of market forces tends to cause environmental degradation. He highlights the key issues, both between rich and poor countries and between present and future generations.

Jacobs then sets out a system of 'sustainability' planning, devised to constrain the economy within environmental limits. He shows how 'green taxes' and other financial incentives, public spending, and the implementation of regulations must be combined to achieve those objectives.

This book belongs to a tradition of political economy at its best, analytically rigorous, yet informed by both the deep ethical concerns of the Green movement and an awareness of the social and political context of economic policy. Written for the non-specialist in clear prose, it offers a radical yet feasible agenda for the 1990s and beyond.

Edition details

• Publisher: UBC Press
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0774804742
• ISBN 13: 9780774804745
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 334