A Poverty of Reason: Sustainable Development and Economic Growth

Environmental activists, politicians and celebrities have touted the wisdom of "sustainable development" as though its meaning and value were clear. But the concept has barely been defined, let alone subjected to scientific, economic, and philosophical scrutiny.

Oxford University economist Wilfred Beckerman puts "sustainable development" to the test, questioning several of its core claims: Will economic growth burn itself out by depleting the natural resources it requires? Will global warming wreak widespread havoc? Does human activity threaten to throw a delicate planet dangerously "out of balance"? Do future generations possess rights that morally override the claims of those alive today? At what price?

After examining the evidence, Beckerman finds "sustainable development" lacking on both scientific and moral grounds. Although millions of people lack clean air and water, and are plagued by deteriorating ecosystems, these problems are caused not by "unsustainable development" but by poverty, poorly defined property rights, and lack of freedom of opportunity. And, Beckerman concludes, because "sustainable development" recommends policies that would worsen these conditions (for present and future generations), it hardly occupies the moral high ground, as its supporters claim.

A Poverty of Reason provides a critical examination of this highly controversial topic and will prove essential in the ongoing debate about environmental and economic practices.

Wilfred Beckerman (1925–2020) was Emeritus Fellow at Balliol College, Oxford University, England. He received his Ph.D. from Oxford University and D.Phil. from Cambridge University, and he has been Honorary Visiting Professor of Economics at University College London, where he held the Chair in Political Economy. He has been a Member of the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution; Chair of the United Kingdom’s Department of the Environment’s Advisory Panel of Academic Economists; Research Director and a Member of the Council and the Executive Committee of the National Institute for Economic and Social Research; Economic Advisor to the President of the British Board of Trade; and Head of Division of the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development.