Global Ethic for Global Politics and Economics or Applying Economics to the Environment

Global Ethic for Global Politics and Economics

Author: Hans Kung

How can the new world order of the twenty-first century avoid the horrors of the twentieth? Will nations form a real community or continue to aggressively pursue their own interests? Will the Machiavellian approaches of the past prevail over idealism and a more humanitarian politics? What role can religion play in a world increasingly dominated by transnational corporations? Kung tackles these and many other questions with the insight and moral authority that comes from a life-time's devotion to the search for justice and human dignity. Arguing against both an amoral realpolitik and an immoral resurgence of laissez-faire economics, Kung defines a comprehensive ethic - founded on the bedrock of mutual respect and humane treatment of all beings - that would encompass the ecological, legal, technological, and social patterns that are reshaping civilization. If we are going to have a global economy, a global technology, a global media, Kung argues, we must also have a global ethic to which all nations, and peoples of the most varied backgrounds and beliefs, can commit themselves. "The world," he says, "is not going to be held together by the Internet."

Go to: Living History or Obama Nation

Applying Economics to the Environment

Author: Clifford S Russell

Applying Economics to the Environment is distinguished from other books on environmental economics by its breadth of coverage and its in-depth discussions of several key topics. The book's broad scope includes a chapter on how models of the natural world interact with economic models in ways that are central to the conclusions economists reach. It devotes a chapter to contingent valuation, currently the hottest topic in the field. It also contains a chapter on monitoring and enforcement, a topic often completely ignored but central to considerations of instrument choice. In addition, the final four chapters deal with the special problems of developing countries and the environment, both their own and our shared global systems. In terms of depth, the book's discussion of contingent valuation and related "direct" damage or benefit estimation techniques is unmatched outside the specialist literature. Its coverage of the choices available among policy instruments goes far beyond the usual simple discussions contrasting what is misleadingly known as "command control" with so-called economic or market-based instruments. This coverage reveals the complexity of the choice and the range of alternatives available. It also presents several of the newer ideas, in particular the use of publicly available information as a tool of environmental policy. Applying Economics to the Environment is intended to serve a dual market of upper-level college course programs in environmental economics as well as engineering and public policy courses that focus on the environment. The book can also provide an enlightening perspective for practicing professionals. Because the text includes a relativelysophisticated presentation of economic analysis, the author includes a full-chapter review of relevant microeconomic concepts. Some other features that further distinguish this book from currently available titles on the subject are: an introduction to the history of environmental policy and legislation; a comparison of approaches to the uncertain choice between development and preservation; and an example of regional cost benefit analysis.

Table of Contents:

	Preface
Ch. 1	What Does Environmental Economics Have to Do with the Environment?	1
Ch. 2	Background on Actual Policy Choices	16
Ch. 3	Microeconomics: Review and Extensions	32
Ch. 4	An Introduction to the "Environmental" Part of Environmental Economics	74
Ch. 5	Cost-Benefit Analysis and the Management of the Environment	94
Ch. 6	Damage and Benefit Estimation: Background and Introduction	121
Ch. 7	Indirect Benefit Estimation	140
Ch. 8	Direct Methods of Benefit Estimation	166
Ch. 9	Policy Instruments I: Some Basic Results and Confusions	188
Ch. 10	Policy Instruments II: Other Considerations and More Exotic Instruments	210
Ch. 11	Monitoring and Enforcement	240
Ch. 12	Dealing with Risk: The Normative Model and Some Limitations	257
Ch. 13	Risk Analysis and Risky Decisions: Some Applications	279
Ch. 14	Development and Environment: Descriptive Statistics and Special Challenges	297
Ch. 15	Estimating Environmental Quality Benefits or Damages in Developing Countries	322
Ch. 16	Choosing Instruments of Environmental Policy in the Developing Country Context	340
Ch. 17	Developing Country Environments and OECD Country Tastes: An Asymmetric Relation	364
	Index	371