Natural Capital and Human Economic Survival

Prugh, Thomas; Daly, Herman; Goodland, Robert; Cumberland, John H; Norgaard, Richard B

"In this second edition, excellent insights into the fields of ecological and environmental economics are provided…very readable and understandable publication…recommended for all readers, the general public and up, with an interest in the environment."-B.J. Peterson in Choice, December 1999"Sustainability is a widely accepted ideal for investigating and managing natural resources, but disciplined efforts to make its core principles operational are rare. This book is exceptional in developing a common, analytic framework and language for investigating how human institutions interact with ecological systems."Sarah Michaels, School of Planning, University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

• Foreword -- Preface -- Section I: The Ecological Economics Perspective and Why It's Needed -- 1 The Origins of Our Economic Worldview -- Classical Economics, Key Figures, Assumptions -- The Birth of Neoclassicism -- Driven to Abstraction: The Neoclassical Legacy -- 2 The Ecological Economics Perspective -- The Coevolutionary Paradigm -- Scale, Throughput, and Carrying Capacity -- The Mostly Invisible City -- Substitutability vs. Complementarity -- Technological Optimism vs. Prudent Skepticism -- Entropy and Economics -- What Sustainability Means -- Section II: The Definition, Function, and Valuation of Natural Capital -- 3 What Natural Capital Is and Does -- What Does Natural Capital Do? -- Biodiversity, Ecosystem Function, and the Economy -- Four Functions of Natural Capital -- 4 Depletion and Valuation -- Some Evidence of Natural Capital Depletion -- The Green Devolution -- A Fearful Asymmetry: Accounting for Natural Capital -- The Monetary Valuation of Natural Capital -- When "Discounted" Doesn't Mean a Bargain -- An Alternative -- Section Ill: Managing Natural Capital for Sustainability -- 5 Investing in Natural Capital: Incentives and Obstacles -- The Nutshell Case for Natural Capital Investment -- Why We Ignore Natural Capital -- Command-and-Control Regulation -- Incentive-Based Systems -- 6 Some Investment Strategies -- Green Taxes -- Graded Ecozoning -- Natural Capital Depletion Taxes -- The Link Between Human and Natural Capital -- The Precautionary Polluter-Pays Principle -- Ecological Tariffs -- Natural Capital and International Trade -- Property Rights Regimes -- Resource Utilities -- Two Sustainability Profiles -- Afterword -- Appendix: Some Tools For Personal and Community Action -- Glossary -- -References -- Index.