The analysis of the interactions between natural resourcescarcity, technological innovation and the dynamics of eco-nomic systems has a long-standing tradition in economics.During the 1980s and the early 1990s, a new phase of theseinteractions initiated under the effects of technologicalrevolution and the problem of the environment. The generalconcept behind this book is that the issue of natural resou-cesand the environment in relation to economic growth can-not be addressed without due consideration for the effectsof technological innovation on thedynamics of economic sy-stems. Technological innovation alone, however, is not asufficient condition for the sustainability of economicgrowth. Policies may have a role in solving the internatio-nal distribution problems generated by the non-convergingdevelopment path of developed and developing countries. Inparticular, the new international order shaped by the eventsof the 1980s, made it possible for world management to ad-dress the problems of poverty and the environment.
