08-02 "Ecological Macroeconomics: Consumption, Investment, and Climate Change"

The challenge of reducing global carbon emissions by 50-85 per cent by the year 2050, which is suggested by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2007a) as a target compatible with limiting the risk of a more-than-2ºC temperature increase, clearly conflicts with existing patterns of economic growth, which are heavily dependent on increased use of fossil fuel energy. While it is theoretically possible to conceive of economic growth being “delinked” from fossil fuel consumption, any such delinking would represent a drastic change from economic patterns of the last 150 years. Current macroeconomic theory is heavily oriented towards an assumption of continuous, exponential growth in GDP. The historical record shows GDP growth is strongly correlated with a parallel record of increasing fossil energy use and CO2 emissions. A path of reduced carbon emissions would require major modifications in economic growth patterns. Climate change is part of an inter-related group of environmental issues associated with growth limits. These include population growth, agricultural production, water supplies, and species loss. To achieve a low-carbon path requires population stabilization, limited consumption, and major investments in environmental protection and social priorities such as public health, nutrition, and education. Macroeconomic theory must be adapted to reflect these new realities. A reclassification of macroeconomic aggregates is proposed to distinguish between those categories of goods and services that can expand over time, and those that must be limited to reduce carbon emissions. This reformulation makes it clear that there are many possibilities for environmentally beneficial economic expansion. New forms of Keynesian policy oriented towards ecological sustainability, provision of basic social needs such as education and health care, and distributional equity can provide a basis for a rapid reduction in carbon emissions while promoting investment in human and natural capital.

"Basic Principles of Sustainable Development"

This paper explores what a critical commentary on micro principles texts might look like, examining what is to be critiqued and how to do it.sustainable development, economic theory, development, environment, development policy

10-05 "The Macroeconomics of Development without Throughput Growth"

Serious discussion has begun of policies to promote the goal of increasing well-being without material growth. Moving towards this goal requires a profound reorientation of macroeconomic theory. Importantly, the call by ecological economists to move away from traditional growth-oriented models comes at a moment when standard macroeconomics is in considerable turmoil. The financial crisis of 2008/2009 seriously undermined the basis for mainstream macroeconomics and brought renewed attention to various forms of Keynesian analysis and policy previously regarded as outdated. There is a close complementarity between new Keynesian and ecological perspectives. While older Keynesian analysis was oriented towards promoting growth, a true Keynesian analysis of the relationship between investment and consumption does not depend on a growth orientation. What this analysis has in common with an ecological perspective is the rejection of market optimality assumed in classical models. Moving away from the neoclassical goal of inter-temporal utility maximization allows for different, pluralistic economic goals: full employment, provision of basic needs, social and infrastructure investment, and income equity. These goals are compatible with environmental preservation and resource sustainability, whereas indefinite growth is not. But they require a revitalization of the sphere of social investment, seriously neglected (indeed often omitted completely) in standard models. Reintroducing this perspective allows the development of an economic theory suitable for the transition to a stable-population, low-carbon, resource-conserving global economy. The barriers to this transition are primarily political and institutional, not economic. Specifically, an eco-Keynesian perspective emphasizes new macroeconomic categories including: * human-capital-intensive services * investment in energy-conserving capital * investment in natural and human capital The expansion of these categories provides a basis for growth in wellbeing without growth in throughput, while preserving full employment and economic stability. This paper explores some of the implications of this altered macroeconomic perspective for development in both the global "North" and "South". It is suggested that the problems following the global financial crisis cannot be resolved by a return to traditional growth patterns, and will require large-scale practical policies based on eco-Keynesianism.

01-09 "Macroeconomic Policy and Sustainability"

The trend in mainstream economic thought about macroeconomic policy has been towards minimalism. In the optimistic Keynesian phase of the 1960's, it was assumed that both fiscal and monetary policy were effective tools for macroeconomic management. But the influence of monetarist and New Classical critiques has led to a gradual erosion of theoretical support for activist government policy. First fiscal policy fell by the wayside, perceived as too slow and possibly counterproductive in its impacts. Then New Classical and rational expectations critiques suggested that even monetary policy was ineffective. Thus the role of government policy has been reduced to a cautious effort not to make things worse B in effect a return to an economics of laissez-faire.

An integrated approach for evaluating coastal vulnerability in a changing climate

Coastal hazards such as flooding and erosion threaten many coastal communities and ecosystems. With documented increases in both storm frequency and intensity and projected acceleration of sea level rise, incorporating the impacts of climate change and variability into coastal vulnerability assessments is becoming a necessary, yet challenging task. We are developing an integrated approach to probabilistically incorporate the impacts of climate change into coastal vulnerability assessments via a multi-scale, multi-hazard methodology. By examining the combined hazards of episodic flooding/inundation and storm induced coastal change with chronic trends under a range of future climate change scenarios, a quantitative framework can be established to promote more sciencebased decision making in the coastal zone. Our focus here is on an initial application of our method in southern Oregon, United States. (PDF contains 5 pages

An anti-symmetric exclusion process for two particles on an infinite 1D lattice

A system of two biased, mutually exclusive random walkers on an infinite 1D lattice is studied whereby the intrinsic bias of one particle is equal and opposite to that of the other. The propogator for this system is solved exactly and expressions for the mean displacement and mean square displacement (MSD) are found. Depending on the nature of the intrinsic bias, the system's behaviour displays two regimes, characterised by (i) the particles moving towards each other and (ii) away from each other, both qualitatively different from the case of no bias. The continuous-space limit of the propogator is found and is shown to solve a Fokker-Planck equation for two biased, mutually exclusive Brownian particles with equal and opposite drift velocity.Comment: 19 pages, 5 figure

03-03 "Reconciling Growth and Environment"

Macroeconomic theory and policy are strongly based on the assumption that economic growth is a fundamental goal. The environmental realities of the twenty- first century compel a reassessment of macro theory in terms of the impact of current growth patterns on planetary ecosystems.This paper examines the macroeconomic impacts of growth in terms of several major areas of conflict between economic demands and ecosystem capacities:

Byzantine medicine and medical practitioners in the West: the case of Michael Dishypatos

It seems to be generally assumed that, after about 1200, Byzantium lost its former ascendancy in the field of medical practice. The abundant evidence for Greek physicians practising in the West during the fifteenth century, however, challenges this view. Many contemporary documents speak of these émigré physicians in most complimentary terms and they often obtained the patronage of the wealthy and influential. This article concentrates on one of them, Michael Dishypatos, who was tried for sorcery at Chambéry in 1417. Although the trial document attributes to Dishypatos practices which are hardly compatible with good medical practice, it is argued that his condemnation was the result of political intrigue rather than dissatisfaction with his professional conduct. On the contrary, his very presence in the Duchy of Savoy, in the service of the Duke and of a wealthy bourgeois, Jean Lageret, is further evidence that Byzantine medicine still commanded high respect in the West in the last years before the fall of Constantinople.REB 54 1996 France p. 201-220. J. Harris, Byzantine Medicine and medical Practitioners in the West : the Case of Michael Dishypatos. — On suppose habituellement qu'après 1204 Byzance a perdu son ancienne prééminence dans le domaine médical. La preuve que de nombreux médecins grecs exerçaient en Occident va à rencontre de ce point de vue. Beaucoup de documents contemporains parlent en termes favorables de ces médecins émigrés qui ont souvent obtenu la protection de patrons riches et influents. Cet article s'intéresse spécialement à l'un d'eux, Michel Dishypatos, qui fut jugé pour sorcellerie en 1417. Quoique les actes du procès attribuent à Dishypatos des pratiques difficilement compatibles avec une saine activité de médecin, on défend l'hypothèse que sa condamnation résulta davantage d'une intrigue politique que d'un désaveu de sa conduite professionnelle. Au contraire sa présence dans le duché de Savoie au service du Duc et d'un riche bourgeois, Jean Lageret, constitue une preuve supplémentaire que la médecine byzantine inspirait encore un grand respect en Occident quelques années avant la chute de Constantinople.Harris Jonathan. Byzantine Medicine and medical Practitioners in the West : the Case of Michael Dishypatos. In: Revue des études byzantines, tome 54, 1996. pp. 201-220

Art History and the Global Challenge: A Critical Perspective

The challenge of globalization and the “decolonization” of our way of thinking have become a major concern for most art historians. While it is still too early to assess the impact on the discipline of the “Global turn”—a turn that is all the more timid that it materializes more slowly in public collections and public opinions than in books—we nonetheless wanted to probe scholars who are paying close attention to the new practices in global art history. Coming from different cultural milieus and academic traditions, and belonging to different generations, they agreed to answer our questions, and to share with us their insights, questions, doubts, but also hopes for the discipline. This survey must be regarded as a dialogue in progress: other conversations will follow and will contribute to widening the range of critical perspectives on art history and the Global challenge