„The labor of nature is paid, not because she does much, but because she does little. In proportion as she becomes niggardly in her gifts, she exacts a greater price for her work. Where she is munificently bene- cent, she always works gratis.“ David Ricardo* This book interprets nature and the environment as a scarce resource. Whereas in the past people lived in a paradise of environmental superabundance, at p- sent environmental goods and services are no longer in ample supply. The en- ronment fulfills many functions for the economy: it serves as a public-c- sumption good, as a provider of natural resources, and as receptacle of waste. These different functions compete with each other. Releasing more pollutants into the environment reduces environmental quality, and a better environm- tal quality implies that the environment’s use as a receptacle of waste has to be restrained. Consequently, environmental disruption and environmental use are by nature allocation problems. This is the basic message of this book.
Jadual kandungan
The Problem.- Using the Environment — An Allocation Problem.- Static Allocation Aspect.- Production Theory and Transformation Space.- Optimal Environmental Use.- Environmental Quality as a Public Good.- Property-Rights Approach to the Environmental Problem.- Environmental-Policy Instruments.- Incidence of an Emission Tax.- Policy Instruments.- Policy Instruments and the Casuistics of Pollution.- The Political Economy of Environmental Scarcity.- Environmental Allocation in Space.- Environmental Endowment, Competitiveness and Trade.- Transfrontier Pollution.- Global Environmental Media.- Regional Aspects of Environmental Allocation.- Environmental Allocation in Time and under Uncertainty.- Long-Term Aspects of Environmental Quality.- Economic Growth, Sustainability and Environmental Quality.- Risk and Environmental Allocation.