Valuing Nature? : Economics, ethics and environment

This volume questions the dominant economic methods of evaluating the environment and asks what role economics should play in setting our environmental objectives. A critique of neo-classical economic thought on the environment is included.

The state of the environment is now widely acknowledged as a serious cause for concern. Valuing Nature? argues that responding to this concern by economic valuation of the environment as a consumer good only makes matters worse. The book brings together philosophers, economists and sociologists to put the case for a new and more creative approach to environmental policy. The discussion covers: • the structure of environmental policy-making • the current orthodoxy in environmental economics and its deficiencies • the deeper problems with contingent valuation surveys and cost-benefit analysis for environmental decisions • alternative valuation methods Embracing three disciplines, this book is nevertheless written in a clear, accessible style. It includes chapters by Geoff Hodgson, Clive Spash, Michael Jacobs, Brian Wynne and John O’Neill. Its ground-breaking critique and suggestions will be of great interest both to specialists in the field and to students of the disciplines concerned; it has important messages for anyone concerned with how decisions about the environment are made.