Economic Growth in the Anthropocene
6 Pages Posted: 31 Jul 2024
Date Written: July 31, 2024
Abstract
The explosion of global economic activity following the Second World War coincides with a new geological time, the Anthropocene, where humans are the main factor in the broader Earth system. A feature of this coincidence is the decumulation of natural capital (wetlands, grasslands, biomes such as the oceans and soils, etc.). To better understand this decumulation and its relation to broader human economic activity, I here focus on the maintenance and regulating services that undergird natural capital (climate regulation, decomposition of waste, nitrogen fixation, etc.). From this focus, I propose a model relating human ecological footprint and stocks of natural capital. I close by offering some policy proposals to regulate this relationship going forward.
Keywords: exhaustible resources and economic development, environment and development, sustainability
JEL Classification: O44, P18, P48, Q51, Q01, Q56
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation