The Wealth of Nature : How Mainstream Economics Has Failed the Environment

Başlık:

Yazar:

Nadeau, Robert L.

ISBN:

9780231507769

Ek Yazar:

Nadeau, Robert L.

Fiziksel Tanım:

1 online resource

Contents:

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Introduction -- Chapter 1. Spaceship Earth: Homo economicus and the Environmental Crisis -- chapter 2. The not so worldly philosophers: Metaphysics,Newtonian Physics, and Classical Economics -- Chapter 3. The emperor has no clothes: The Neoclassical Economists and Mid-Nineteenth Century Physics -- Chapter 4. No free lunch: Mainstream Economics and Globalization -- Chapter 5. A green thumb on the invisible hand: Environmental Economics -- Chapter 6. Schisms, heresies, and keeping the faith: Ecological Economics -- Chapter 7. The real economy in biology: Emergence and a New View of Order -- Chapter 8. The real economy in physics: Cosmic Connections -- Chapter 9. Toward a new theory of economics: The Costs of Doing Business in the Global Environment -- Chapter 10. The ceremony of innocence: Science, Ethics, and the Environmental Crisis -- Notes -- Index

Abstract:

Virtually all large-scale damage to the global environment is caused by economic activities, and the vast majority of economic planners in both business and government coordinate these activities on the basis of guidelines and prescriptions from neoclassical economic theory. In this hard-hitting book, Robert Nadeau demonstrates that the claim that neoclassical economics is a science comparable to the physical sciences is totally bogus and that our failure to recognize and deal with this fact constitutes the greatest single barrier to the timely resolution of the crisis in the global environment. Neoclassical economic theory is premised on the belief that the "invisible hand"-- Adam Smith's metaphor for forces associated with the operation of the "natural laws of economics"--regulates the workings of market economies. Nadeau reveals that Smith's understanding of these laws was predicated on assumptions from eighteenth-century metaphysics and that the creators of neoclassical economics incorporated this view of the "lawful" mechanisms of free-market systems into a mathematical formalism borrowed wholesale from mid-nineteenth-century physics. The strategy used by these economists, all of whom had been trained as engineers, was as simple as it was absurd--they substituted economic variables for the physical variables in the equations of this physics. Strangely enough, this claim was widely accepted and the fact that neoclassical economics originated in a bastardization of mid-nineteenth-century physics was soon forgotten.Nadeau makes a convincing case that the myth that neoclassical economic theory is a science has blinded

Konu Terimleri:

Economic development -- Environmental aspects.

Globalization -- Economic aspects.

Globalization -- Environmental aspects.

Political Economics, other.

Social Sciences, Economics.

Social Sciences.

Electronic Access:

http://www.degruyter.com/doi/book/10.7312/nade12798
Cover http://www.degruyter.com/doc/cover/9780231507769.jpg

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Library	Materyal Türü	Barkod	Yer Numarası	Durum
Searching... Pamukkale Merkez Kütüphanesi	E-Kitap	66243-1001	HD75.6 .N345 2003 EB	Searching... Unknown

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Özet

Virtually all large-scale damage to the global environment is caused by economic activities, and the vast majority of economic planners in both business and government coordinate these activities on the basis of guidelines and prescriptions from neoclassical economic theory. In this hard-hitting book, Robert Nadeau demonstrates that the claim that neoclassical economics is a science comparable to the physical sciences is totally bogus and that our failure to recognize and deal with this fact constitutes the greatest single barrier to the timely resolution of the crisis in the global environment.

Neoclassical economic theory is premised on the belief that the "invisible hand"-- Adam Smith's metaphor for forces associated with the operation of the "natural laws of economics"--regulates the workings of market economies. Nadeau reveals that Smith's understanding of these laws was predicated on assumptions from eighteenth-century metaphysics and that the creators of neoclassical economics incorporated this view of the "lawful" mechanisms of free-market systems into a mathematical formalism borrowed wholesale from mid-nineteenth-century physics. The strategy used by these economists, all of whom had been trained as engineers, was as simple as it was absurd--they substituted economic variables for the physical variables in the equations of this physics. Strangely enough, this claim was widely accepted and the fact that neoclassical economics originated in a bastardization of mid-nineteenth-century physics was soon forgotten.

Nadeau makes a convincing case that the myth that neoclassical economic theory is a science has blinded us to the fact that there is absolutely no basis in this theory for accounting for the environmental impacts of economic activities or for positing viable economic solutions to environmental problems. The unfortunate result is that the manner in which we are now coordinating global economic activities is a program for ecological disaster, and we may soon arrive at the point where massive changes in the global environment will threaten the lives of billions of people. To avoid this prospect, Nadeau argues that we must develop and implement an environmentally responsible economic theory and describes how this can be accomplished.

Author Notes

Robert Nadeau is an interdisciplinary scholar, historian of science, and a professor at George Mason University

Reviews (3)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Although economics may still be described colloquially as the "dismal science," Nadeau (S/He Brain: Science, Sexual Politics, and the Myths of Feminism) argues that the propounders of classical and neoclassical economic theory, from Adam Smith in the 18th century to the present, have been mistaken in asserting that economics is a science. Through careful textual analysis, the author explains how economists, using outmoded metaphysical assumptions originally propounded by Smith in The Wealth of Nations, deceived themselves into believing that there are natural laws of economics. Furthermore, these misjudgments were compounded in the 19th century by the use of now discredited mathematical formulas, in which economic forces were perceived by economists in the same way physicists perceived principles of physics. The title of this book is an ironic play on the title of Smith's seminal explanation of capitalism. Unfortunately, the author contends, the continuing formalistic misapprehensions of economists spell possible global environmental catastrophes. These dislocations will result from outdated economic theories that do not take into account the physical realities of the world. The writer proposes a reordering of economic studies that will include an awareness of the vital interplay between ecology, natural resources, trade and population. This well-annotated, scholarly treatment of a dense subject is written in a lively style and will appeal largely to serious students of economics, history, ecology and philosophy. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Kirkus Review

Of inputs, outputs, and invisible hands: a prolegomenon to a future economics that takes environmental costs fully into account. A "green economics" is almost certainly impossible, writes Nadeau (Economics/George Mason Univ.), within the schema of existing neoclassical economic theory, whose assumptions derive from the union of classical economics with 19th-century physics. Those assumptions are metaphysical more than real, he continues; among them are the notions that "the market is a closed circular flow between production and consumption," that market systems operate without reference to the external environment, that the free market will sort out whatever problems are thrown at it, and, worst of all, that "the external resources of nature are inexhaustible, or replaceable by other resources or by technologies that minimize the use of these resources or rely on other resources." Strolling leisurely through the thickets of economic thought planted by the likes of Adam Smith, David Ricardo, Karl Marx, and other thinkers, Nadeau points to a host of contradictions and thorny problems, such as the essential unreality of the invisible hand (which "exists only in the minds of those who believe in its existence"), before setting about the harder work of concocting an economic theory that accounts fully for external inputs such as raw timber and hydroelectric power, all produced at fearful cost to the nonhuman environment. The details of this program will sometimes seem a little murky to the reader not well steeped in economic theory, and to those of a free-market bent, Nadeau's proposals will smack of one-worldism: the absolute value, he argues, is a sustainable global environment, while one of his desiderata is the establishment of an international agency "that has the power and authority to ensure that . . . price mechanisms are universally applied in a fair and consistent manner throughout the global economic system." In short: Get thee behind us, Milton Friedman--there's a new accountant in town, and he's counting megawatts and felled forests. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Library Journal Review

According to this new book, flaws in the fundamental principles of economics make it unable to assess environmental concerns properly. Nadeau, an interdisciplinary scholar at George Mason University, explains that neoclassical economists in the 19th century defined the fundamental principles of economics based upon the scientific knowledge of that time. He spends a chapter each on biology and physics to show how these sciences have evolved to understand the interconnectedness of the environment. In contrast, he argues, economics has merely layered new theory on top of its fundamental ideas of a closed-market system residing separate from the natural environment and thus cannot properly assess current resource usage and environmental degradation. Especially galling to Nadeau is the assumption of many economists that, left to itself, a free-market economy will inevitably work out suitable environmental solutions. In conclusion, Nadeau presents his ideas on how to begin formulating a new environmentally responsible theory of economics. While the book is free of mathematics and most jargon, its lengthy theoretical discussions recommend it to academic and larger public libraries with collections in economics and environmental studies.-Lawrence R. Maxted, Gannon Univ., Erie, PA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Introduction	p. ix
Chapter 1. Spaceship Earth: Homo economicus and the Environmental Crisis	p. 1
Chapter 2. The Not So Worldly Philosophers: Metaphysics, Newtonian Physics, and Classical Economics	p. 19
Chapter 3. The Emperor Has No Clothes: The Neoclassical Economists and Mid-Nineteenth Century Physics	p. 37
Chapter 4. No Free Lunch: Mainstream Economics and Globalization	p. 77
Chapter 5. A Green Thumb on the Invisible Hand: Environmental Economics	p. 113
Chapter 6. Schisms, Heresies, and Keeping the Faith: Ecological Economics	p. 133
Chapter 7. The Real Economy in Biology: Emergence and a New View of Order	p. 149
Chapter 8. The Real Economy in Physics: Cosmic Connections	p. 163
Chapter 9. Toward a New Theory of Economics: The Costs of Doing Business in the Global Environment	p. 185
Chapter 10. The Ceremony of Innocence: Science, Ethics, and the Environmental Crisis	p. 207
Notes	p. 225
Index	p. 241

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Author Notes

Reviews (3)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Kirkus Review

Library Journal Review

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