01-01 "Civil Economy and Civilized Economics: Essentials for Sustainable Development."

This essay will consider the relevance of the social sciences - especially economics - to the foundations of sustainable development. Looming environmental crises have served as a prime motivating force for reevaluating fundamental principles. In particular, the concept of sustainability, carrying with it clear requirements for values, goals and ethics, has begun to reshape economics. The broadest conception of sustainability is found if we understand sustainable development to mean Socially And Environmentally Just And Sustainable development - "SAEJAS development". Throughout the paper we will see examples of rules, or norms, that serve to organize human behavior without requiring that everything be rethought all the time. Among these may be found some ethical rules that lay the foundation for responding to the current situation in which humanity finds itself. What notice should the social sciences take of such rules? How would the social sciences - especially economics - have to change in order to be able to pay appropriate attention to ethical norms? "Participatory science," involving citizens as well as specialists, is proposed as an outline for the kind of science that is needed under contemporary circumstances. The approach described under this rubric will be contrasted with the methods and assumptions of mainstream economics. The essay will give some attention to how economic ideas - for better or for worse - affect and shape culture and society. The theory of sustainable development is proposed as offering strong, practical elements of a needed alternative economic paradigm. The conclusion will remind us that theory alone has little effect, and will point to an area where theory and practice can work together to civilize modern economies.

Equity

This essay will not attempt to cover all the meanings of equity, but will proceed on the assumption of some common understandings of equality and fairness. It will first summarize briefly how the concept of equity has fared in the evolution of economic theory, from the classical economists of the 18th and 19th centuries, through the neoclassicals of the 20th. It will then focus on ways that ecological economics can once again provide a central place for equity. To do so is not simply a theoretical exercise. Values are involved – values that cannot help but have an impetus toward action. Some possible implications for action will be outlined.history of economic thought, equity, equality, ecological economics, human values

Individuals and institutions in social economics

This is Chapter 4 from "Social Economics: An Alternative Theory" (St. Martin's Press, 1991). This chapter focuses on the human subjects of economic study, suggesting that the psychology offered in neoclassical economics is severely inadequate to serve as the foundation for a social science. Psychological issues that deserve more attention in economics include altruism, trust, learning processes, and the values of "doing" and "being" - these last being contrasted with the neoclassical emphasis on "having." Economic theory also needs to evolve along with - and to assist in the constructive evolution of - real-world economic systems.psychology; psychological economics; altruism; trust

Economic vitality in a transition to sustainability

The good news is that many of the solutions to this extraordinary problem are within reach. Many of the solutions to global warming are not only feasible, they are economically and socially beneficial. While some claim that addressing global warming will have a negative impact on the economy, the most recent report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ("IPCC") asserts that there is substantial economic potential for the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions over the coming decade. In fact, there is a growing global market to address global warming, and the United States must act now or risk being left behind.Climate change, mitigation, resilience

08-01 "An Overview of Climate Change: What does it mean for our way of life? What is the best future we can hope for?"

This paper starts with the question of whether climate change will require a significant reduction of consumption among the richer people in the world, and ends with the most optimistic picture the author can conjure up, of the world in the year 2075. That hopeful picture is of a world in which inequalities – among and within nations – have been substantially reduced. The challenges and adjustments confronting humanity in the coming decades provide an opportunity that could be used to mitigate climate change in ways that can improve the circumstances of the poor. Ecological reasons to reduce throughput of energy and materials in economic systems urge the abandonment of high-consumption life-styles. The 21st century will be an era of many losses, but it is conceivable that societies will successfully make the transition from goals of economic growth, as understood in the 20th century, to goals of maintaining and increasing sustainable well-being.

A New Economics for the 21st Century

The critical role for economic theory is no longer simply to explain how the existing system works, but also to explore how the economic system can be changed to become more adaptive and resilient in the face of the challenges of the 21st century, and how it can be more directly designed to support human well-being, in the present and the future. Simultaneous changes are needed, in both the actual economy (how it functions, by what rules, how it can be made responsive to constraints) and also in economic theory.Contextual economics; economic theory; economic goals; bias in economic theory

Some sociological explanations for the present condition of neoclassical economics

This is Chapter 7 from Social Economics: An Alternative Theory (St. Martin's Press, 1991) Since Alfred Marshall's time, it has become ever more difficult to draw attention to the need for something besides technique to bridge the gap between the world that (presumably) exists outside our heads and the symbols through which we communicate about the world. In this chapter the author takes a somewhat impressionistic look at the sociology of the field of economics. Given a discipline which, at the beginning of the twentieth century, has problems that it can not resolve, how will it develop, through the end of twentieth and into the twenty-first century, with the claim that it is a science - indeed, 'the queen of the social sciences'?History of economic thought, Social science; Alfred Marshall

The limitations of markets: Background essay

Business leaders and voting citizens as well as policy makers are influenced in their decision-making by the idea that a “perfectly free” market can produce a social optimum (a “best of all possible worlds”). Because this idea is so influential, it is important to understand the conditions that must be met for the theory to work. The theoretic prediction of the optimality of market outcomes presupposes a number of requirements, which can be grouped into three broad categories: (1) the assumption of perfectly functioning markets; (2) market-oriented patterns of motivation and behavior, on the part of both individuals and firms; and (3) the universal existence and scope of markets.optimality, market imperfections, public goods, externalities, transaction costs, market power, human needs, equity

03-02 "Macroeconomics for the Twenty-First Century"

Macroeconomic theory has not yet come to grips with major issues of the twenty- first century. These include environmental pressures, demographic changes, the size, structure, and power of multinational corporations, and growing economic inequality. Existing macroeconomic theory also does not deal adequately with normative issues, focuses excessively on market solutions, assumes that a single macroeconomic theory can apply to all situations, and ignores issues concerning the scale of economic activity and the speed of change.

03-07 "Five Kinds of Capital: Useful Concepts for Sustainable Development"

The concept of capital has a number of different meanings. It is useful to differentiate between five kinds of capital: financial, natural, produced, human, and social. All are stocks that have the capacity to produce flows of economically desirable outputs. The maintenance of all five kinds of capital is essential for the sustainability of economic development.