Sustainability and the new economics : synthesising ecological economics and modern monetary theory / / edited by Stephen J. Williams and Rod Taylor

• Pubblicazione: Cham, Switzerland : , : Springer, , [2022]; ©2022
• Descrizione fisica: 1 online resource (342 pages)
• Disciplina: 338.927
• Soggetto topico: Sustainable development; Environmental economics; Economic development - Environmental aspects
• Persona (resp. second.): WilliamsStephen J.; TaylorRod
• Nota di bibliografia: Includes bibliographical references and index.
• Nota di contenuto: Intro -- Preface -- Contents -- Chapter 1: Introduction -- References -- Part I: The Current Mess -- Chapter 2: The Earth System, the Great Acceleration and the Anthropocene -- 2.1 What Is the Earth System? -- 2.2 The Great Acceleration -- 2.3 The Anthropocene -- 2.4 Climate Change -- 2.5 Planetary Boundaries -- 2.6 Future Trajectories of the Earth System -- References -- Chapter 3: Australia's Natural Environment: A Warning for the World -- 3.1 Introduction -- 3.2 Australia: An Historical Perspective -- 3.3 Australia: Current Perspective -- 3.4 Drivers of Environmental Change -- 3.5 Human Overpopulation -- 3.6 Terrestrial Environments -- 3.7 Freshwater and Marine Environments -- 3.8 Ecological Sustainability - Is It Possible? -- 3.9 Conclusions -- References -- Chapter 4: Climate Change and Human Health -- 4.1 Introduction -- 4.2 Climate Change, the Anthropocene, and Human Development -- 4.3 Coal, Air Pollution and Health in Australia -- 4.4 Climate Change and Health -- 4.4.1 Classifying the Health Effects of Climate Change, Including Mental Health -- 4.5 Conclusion -- References -- Chapter 5: How Sustainable Are the UN Sustainable Development Goals? -- 5.1 Introduction -- 5.2 Development Based on Growth and Debt, 1980-2015 -- 5.3 SDGs Retain the Growth Strategy -- 5.4 SDG2: 'Safe, Nutritious and Sufficient Food' -- 5.5 SDG11, SDG9: Urban Development, Infrastructure and Industry -- 5.6 SDG12: Sustainable Production and Consumption -- 5.7 SDG8: 'Sustainable Economic Growth'? -- 5.8 Problems of Population and Affluence -- 5.9 Conclusion -- References -- Part II: How We Got Here -- Chapter 6: The Evolution of Neoliberalism -- 6.1 Introduction -- 6.2 What is Neoliberalism? -- 6.3 The Rise of Neoliberalism in the 1970s -- 6.4 Hard Neoliberalism -- 6.5 Soft Neoliberalism -- 6.6 The Crises of the Twenty-First Century -- 6.7 Political Implications. ; 6.8 Concluding Comments: The Way Forward -- References -- Chapter 7: Population Growth -- 7.1 Introduction -- 7.2 Expanding the Resource Base -- 7.3 Early Environmental Concerns -- 7.4 The Global Problem -- 7.5 Population or Consumption? -- 7.6 Climate Change as 'The Great Educator'? -- 7.7 Australian Environmental Organisations -- 7.8 The Harsh Reality of 2020 Meets Delusions of Limitless Futures -- References -- Chapter 8: A Brief History of The Limits to Growth Debate -- 8.1 Introduction -- 8.2 The Club of Rome and The Limits to Growth -- 8.3 Reactions from Economics and Science -- 8.4 Attack from Activist Economists -- 8.5 New Approaches to Limits -- 8.6 Assessments of The Limits to Growth vs. Real World Outcomes -- 8.7 Conclusion -- References -- Chapter 9: The Role of the Fossil Fuel Industry -- 9.1 Fossil Fuels: The Foundation of Exponential Population and Economic Growth -- 9.2 Global Fossil Fuel Evolution -- 9.3 Australian Fossil Fuel Evolution -- 9.4 Power and Political Influence -- 9.5 The Climate Change Nemesis -- 9.6 Corrupting the Market -- 9.7 The Australian Response: Ratcheting Climate Ambition Ever Downwards -- 9.8 From Hard to Soft Denial -- 9.9 Conclusion: Facing the Climate Emergency -- References -- Chapter 10: Economic Failures of the IPCC Process -- 10.1 Introduction -- 10.2 Nobel Oblige -- 10.3 The Scientific Assessment -- 10.3.1 Reading Catastrophe and Seeing Utopia -- 10.3.2 Drowning Scientists with Economists -- 10.3.3 Equating Climate with Weather -- 10.3.4 Equating Time with Space -- 10.3.5 Trivial Estimates of Serious Damages -- 10.4 The Failure of Peer Review -- 10.5 Conclusion -- References -- Part III: Designing a Safe and Prosperous Future -- Chapter 11: An Introduction to Ecological Economics: Principles, Indicators, and Policy -- 11.1 Introduction -- 11.2 Principles of Ecological Economics. ; 11.3 Principles in More Detail -- 11.3.1 The Economy is Embedded in Society, and Society is Embedded in the Biophysical World -- 11.3.2 The Purpose of the Economy is to Maximise Collective Wellbeing -- 11.3.3 Other Aspects of Wellbeing -- 11.3.3.1 Natural Capital (Natural Wealth) -- 11.3.3.2 Population Size -- 11.3.3.3 Health and Education -- 11.3.3.4 Human-Made Capital (Human-Made Wealth) -- 11.3.3.5 Trophic Diversity -- 11.3.3.6 Law and Governance -- 11.3.3.7 Shuffling Financial Assets (Virtual Wealth) Does Not Equate to Generating Real Wealth -- 11.3.3.8 International Relations -- 11.3.4 Sustainability, Distribution, and Allocation -- 11.3.5 Nations Should Strive for Maximum Self-Sufficiency -- 11.3.6 Internationalisation and Globalisation -- 11.3.7 Thermodynamics, Biocapacity and Throughput -- 11.3.8 Global Resource Throughput Should be Less Than the Planet's Biophysical Capacity -- 11.3.9 Continuous Absolute Decoupling is a Dangerous Myth -- 11.3.10 The Optimal Size of an Economy is Where Net Benefits are Maximised -- 11.3.11 Some Countries Will Need to Implement Degrowth Policies -- 11.3.12 Population Size Matters -- 11.3.13 Humankind Needs to Respect the Ecological Limits of the Planet or Face Collapse -- 11.4 Conclusion -- References -- Chapter 12: Energy Systems for Sustainable Prosperity -- 12.1 Introduction -- 12.2 Global Strategy for Cutting GHG Emissions from Energy -- 12.3 Energy Efficiency and Conservation -- 12.3.1 Distinguishing Conservation from Efficiency -- 12.3.2 Energy Conversion Efficiency -- 12.3.3 Rebound -- 12.4 Renewable Energy: Current Status -- 12.5 Real Barriers and Myths -- 12.5.1 Vested Interests Are Resisting the Transition -- 12.5.2 The Base-Load Myth -- 12.5.3 The EROI Myth -- 12.5.4 Consumption-The Real Problem -- 12.6 Discussion and Conclusion -- References -- Chapter 13: Climate Change Litigation and Human Rights. ; 13.1 Introduction -- 13.2 Climate Change Litigation -- 13.2.1 Obstacles -- 13.2.2 Climate Change Litigation in Australia: The Rocky Hill Decision -- 13.3 International Law, Human Rights and Public Decision-Making -- 13.3.1 International Law and Climate Change -- 13.3.2 The Influence of International Law on Domestic Decision-Making -- 13.3.3 International Law in Australian Litigation -- 13.4 Corporations and Climate Change: Holding Emitters Accountable -- 13.4.1 Tortious Actions -- 13.4.2 Corporations Law: Financial Disclosure -- 13.4.3 Corporations Law: Directors' Duties -- 13.5 Conclusion -- Chapter 14: Paying for a Green New Deal: An Introduction to Modern Monetary Theory -- 14.1 Introduction -- 14.2 Mainstream Macroeconomics in a Nutshell -- 14.3 The MMT Paradigm Shift -- 14.4 The Role of Private Banks -- 14.5 The National Government's Budget -- 14.6 Government Deficits and Debt -- 14.7 What a Prudent Monetary-Sovereign Government Should Do -- 14.8 A Government Job Guarantee Scheme -- 14.9 Paying for a Green New Deal -- References -- Chapter 15: Conclusion and Policy Options -- 15.1 Herman Daly's Policies -- 15.2 United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) -- 15.3 Alliance of World Scientists -- 15.4 Other Policy Priorities Worth Considering -- 15.4.1 General -- 15.4.2 Agriculture-Forestry -- 15.4.3 Corporations -- 15.4.4 Education -- 15.4.5 Energy -- 15.4.6 Governance -- 15.4.7 Mining -- 15.4.8 Trade -- References -- Appendices -- Appendix 1: Timeline of Key Events from the Big Bang -- Appendix 2: Glossary of Financial Terms -- Appendix 3: Glossary of General Economic Terms -- Appendix 4.
• Sommario/riassunto: This multidisciplinary book provides new insights and hope for sustainable prosperity given recent developments in economics - but only if swift and strong actions consistent with Earth's biophysical limits and principles of justice are universally taken. It is one thing to put limits on resource throughput and waste generation to conform with the ecosphere's biocapacity. It is another thing to efficiently allocate a sustainable rate of resource throughput and ensure it is equitably distributed in the form of final goods and services. While the separate but interdependent decisions regarding throughput, distribution, and allocation are the essence of ecological economics, dealing with them in a world that needs to cure its growth addiction requires a realistic understanding of macroeconomics and the fiscal capacity of currency-issuing central governments. Sustainable prosperity demands that we harness this understanding to carefully regulate the rate of resource throughput and manipulate macroeconomic outcomes to facilitate human flourishing. The book begins by outlining humanity's current predicament of gross ecological overshoot and laments the half-century of missed opportunities since The Limits to Growth (1972). What was once economic growth has become, in many high-income countries, uneconomic growth (additional costs exceeding additional benefits), which is no longer advancing wellbeing. Meanwhile, low-income nations need a dose of efficient and equitable growth to escape poverty while protecting their environments and the global commons. The book argues for a synthesis of our increasing knowledge of the ecosphere's limited carrying capacity and the power of governments to harness, transform, and distribute resources for the common good. Central to this synthesis must be a correct understanding of the difference between financial constraints and real resource constraints. While the latter apply to everyone, the former do not apply to currency-issuing central governments, which have much more capacity for corrective action than mainstream thinking perceives. The book joins the growing chorus of authoritative voices calling for a complete overhaul of the dominant economic system. We conclude with policy recommendations based on a new economics that, if implemented, would come close to guaranteeing a sustainable and prosperous future. Upon reading this book, at least one thing should be crystal clear: business as usual is not a viable option.
• Titolo autorizzato: Sustainability and the New Economics
• ISBN: 3-030-78795-8
• Formato: Materiale a stampa
• Livello bibliografico: Monografia
• Lingua di pubblicazione: Inglese
• Record Nr.: 9910522933703321
• Lo trovi qui: Univ. Federico II