Evaluating the Costs of Growth
Real World Economics Review, issue 67, 9 May 2014, page 41-51.
11 Pages Posted: 23 Sep 2014
Date Written: September 21, 2014
Abstract
The twentieth century has been extremely unusual in that economic growth rates have been extraordinarily high. At the same time, costs of this growth have also been extremely high. These have been in the form of environmental degradation, depletion of planetary resources and species, climate change, and adverse social change. Since many of the effects of growth go outside the marketplace, evaluating costs and benefits involves value judgments of types which economists are not well-equipped to make. This article sketches some issues which have not received sufficient attention in the discourse about current policy options which bear importantly on our future.
Keywords: Growth, Environment, Cost Benefit, Market Valuation, Non-Market Activities
JEL Classification: O44
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation