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Sustaining what for whom?

Sustaining what for whom?. Optimizing in the face of scarcity. What is sustainability?. A non-declining capital stock – “weak” sustainability. “Natural capital assets...should not decline through time.” Pearce – “strong” sustainability. Of the myriad definitions.

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Sustaining what for whom?

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  1. Sustaining what for whom? Optimizing in the face of scarcity

  2. What is sustainability? • A non-declining capital stock – “weak” sustainability. • “Natural capital assets...should not decline through time.” Pearce – “strong” sustainability

  3. Of the myriad definitions They are all trying to get at several things: • facing limits • meeting needs • equity • avoiding disaster

  4. Toward what purpose? • Avoid human emiseration resulting from irreversible damage to ecosystems. • Implication: now and into the future

  5. Economics and sustainability All economics begins with one premise: • Every action has an opportunity cost. Why? • Scarcity is a given.

  6. Enter ecological economics Markets do many things well, but they do not recognize ultimate limits. • 1st and 2nd Laws • Optimization at the margin ignores scale. • The assumption of substitutability

  7. Achieving sustainability requires: • Modifying economic models. • Thinking in time scales to which we are not accustomed. • Reconsidering whether GDP really measures beneficial change. • Letting prices reflect real opportunity costs.

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