| Ecological Economic Theory |
| NR 385 |
Course Description Ecological economics is poised to play a leading role in the on-going effort to reconcile economic theory and policy with accepted knowledge from other disciplines. Neoclassical welfare economics dominates economic policy discourse in the U.S. and Europe, but is currently in a state of crisis over the dismantling of its two fundamental pillars (1) a theory of human behavior embodied in misplaced notions of consumer choice, and (2) a theory of economic production embodied in unwarranted faith in perfect competition and a marginal productivity theory of distribution. Many neoclassical theorists have largely abandoned rational choice and perfect competition as characterizations of the economic process; however, policy recommendations of economists are still based on these outdated representations of human behavior and commodity production. Neoclassical welfare economics continues to offer unfounded advice in dealing with some of the most pressing environmental and social issues faced in the twenty-first century, including growing income disparity, global climate change, and biodiversity loss. This course addresses the major points of contention between neoclassical welfare economics and ecological economics. By virtue of being the only heterodox school of economics focusing on both the human economy as a social system, and as one constrained by the biophysical world, ecological economics is poised to play a leading role in recasting the scope and method of economic science. Ecological economic models of economic behavior encompass consumption and production in the broadest sense, including their ecological, social, and ethical dimensions, as well as their market consequences. As such it is a field of inquiry encompassing much of contemporary neoclassical economics and heterodox schools of thought including behavioral economics, evolutionary economics, institutional economics, post Keynesian economics, radical economics and social economics. However, ecological economics has particularly distinguished itself by its problem-based approach to methodological development and inquiry. As such, this course helps establish a foundation in ecological economics to build from in subsequent problem-based courses at the University of Vermont, as well as fulfill a requirement toward a graduate certificate in ecological economics. |
| Offered Once a year. |
| Syllabus Fall 2003 |
Class Papers and Presentations Fall 2003 Besides providing fuel for thesis chapters, papers, and grant proposals, over half of the papers from this semester's class were accepted for presentation at the 8th Biennial Conference of the International Society for Ecological Economics (ISEE 2004), Montreal, Canada, July 11-14, 2004.
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