An Introduction to Ecological Economics

If you were browsing in a bookstore and had any interest in this subject, you would most likely buy this book. It provides an important foundation and is for the reader who wants to know the framework of ecological economics -- its origins, its scope (how it is distinct from environmental economics), its uses and its future direction.

Ecological economics is concerned with extending and integrating the study and management of "nature's household" (ecology) and "humankind's household" (economics). Resistance to this new perspective may come from academia as well as industry and governments. On page 10: "Today's market price to polluters for using atmospheric sink capacity for carbon dioxide disposal is zero, although the real opportunity cost may turn out to be astronomical. Economists are almost unanimous in persisting in externalizing the costs of CO2 emissions, even though by 1993 more than 180 nations had signed a treaty to internalize such costs." It would be difficult to praise this book too highly.