Ecological Economics, Second Edition: Principles and Applications

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Discuss in a group the following draft of an idea for an interdisciplinary economic theory of sustainability (Klitgaard 2013: 278ff) and answer the following questions: can the sustainability discourse solve the many problems formulated in the sustainable development goals of the UN with the help of a complex theory, as Klitgaard suggests? What else is required to achieve a sustainable economy and society? Also consider: The Forgotten Foundersby Stewart Udall, Aldo Leopold's Odyssey, Tenth Anniversary Editionby Julianne Lutz Warren

Although they use different methods, both approaches yield similar results. In scenarios where a freeze is imposed on growth either in the monetary economy or the biophysical economy, and no other supportive policies are implemented, a large fraction of the population becomes unemployed, as expected. But, if a range of policies are implemented to foster new jobs and share them around, then an SSE with low unemployment, less poverty and reduced GHG emissions is possible. A typical portfolio of supportive policies is: shorter working week; stabilised population; investment in ‘green’ infrastructure; expansion of health care, social services and education; and possibly more local manufacturing in place of some imports. Goals and principles of sustainable development

Bromley, D. (Ed.). (1992). Making the Commons Work: Theory, Practice, and Policy. San Francisco: ICS Press. Need an antidote to the doom and gloom? Stressed-out environmental advocates will appreciate Prospects for Resilience: Insights from New York City's Jamaica Bay. It’s a deep dive into one of the most important questions of our time: how can we create cities where people and nature thrive together? Prospects for Resilience showcases successful efforts to restore New York’s much abused Jamaica Bay, but its lessons apply to any communities seeking to become more resilient in a turbulent world.

Bromley, D. (2006). Sufficient Reason: Volitional Pragmatism and the Meaning of Economic Institutions. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. E.g. the textbook Daly & Farley, Ecological Economics: Principles and applications (Washington DC: Island Press, 2nd Ed., 2011). Kapp, W. (1968). In Defense of Institutional Economics. The Swedish Journal of Economics, 70(1), 1–18.

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Spash, C.L. ( 2018). Routledge Handbook of Ecological Economics: Nature and Society. Abingdon and New York: Routledge. This handbook describes the advanced state of the development of ecological economics since its beginnings in the 1980s. The early critique of mainstream economics and the discussion of environmental degradation and limits to growth developed into a rich interdisciplinary subject with a polyphony of critical voices, approaches and theories in a variety of research themes. Two salient perspectives include the broadening of the thematic scope of ecological economics to “social ecological economics”, and the transformation to another future economy and society as a guiding perspective for which the development of ideas about a post-growth society is the signpost. The subject develops through interdisciplinary knowledge gathering and integration, with knowledge from social- and natural-scientific disciplines and interdisciplinary approaches, especially heterodox economics and political ecology. This provides a continuously improved understanding of biophysical and social reality and their interrelations. Haberl, H., Fischer-Kowalski, M., Krausmann, F., Weisz, H. & Winiwarter, V. Land Use Policy 21, 199–213 (2004).