Can Environmental Problems be Subject to Economic Calculations?

Abstract

Over the past twenty years, a series of problems characterized as "environmental" have been accorded pride of place in political discussion and occasionally in political action, particularly in the industrial countries. The problems grouped under the term "environment" are extremely diverse; they are the products of behavior operating at different levels and with differing degrees of severity: localized noise pollution, insufficient regeneration of renewable resources, localized depletion of nonrenewable resources, irreversible negative effects on the biosphere and the planet, etc.. The political and ideological reactions to these phenomena are themselves very diverse.

This article can also be found at the Monthly Review website, where most recent articles are published in full.

Click here to purchase a PDF version of this article at the Monthly Review website.