Assistant Professor

As an ecological macroeconomist, my research and teaching is focused on monetary theory and policy in the context of social and ecological justice. My main interests lie in the role of macroeconomic and banking policy on ecological and social issues like housing affordability, income and wealth equity, sustainable agriculture, and resilient social systems. Because of this, I spend a lot of time thinking about how a different understanding of money could inform a more just and sustainable approach to policy.

I am very interested in public banking, radical tax reform, and fiscal and monetary policy that is aimed at social and environmental issues rather than price stability alone. The study of money is deeply entwined within the sociological, ecofeminist, anthropological, and historical literature. Because of this I am also very interested in the fields of embeddedness and dualism, and how humans imagine themselves separate from one another and nature—and importantly, how that imagining informs how we create and use money.

Publications

  • Ament, Joe; Tobin, Dan; Trubek, Amy; Morgan, Caitlin; Morse, Cherie; Merrill, Scott; Liu, Tung. 2022. “From Polanyi to policy: A tool for measuring embeddedness and designing sustainable agricultural policies.” Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems. https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2022.983016
  • Murphy, Francis; Ament, Joe. 2022. Pluralistic valuation of Codling moth regulation by Brown long- eared bats in English apple orchards. Sustainability. 14, 11966. https://doi.org/10.3390/su141911966
  • Ament, Joe., 2020. “An Ecological Monetary Theory.” Ecological Economics. 171. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2019.106421
  • Ament, Joe., 2019. “Toward an Ecological Monetary Theory.” Sustainability. 11, 923. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11030923

Book Chapters (Peer Reviewed)

  • Svartzman, Romain; Ament, Joe; Barmes, David; Erickson, Jon; Farley, Joshua; Guay-Boutet, Charles; Kosoy, Nicolas. 2020. Money, interest rates and accumulation on a finite planet: Revisiting the ‘monetary growth imperative’ through institutionalist approaches. In “Sustainable Wellbeing Futures: A Research Agenda for Ecological Economics.” Edward Elgar.
  • Alperovitz, Gar; Ament, Joe. 2020. The Transition to a Pluralist Commonwealth. In “Sustainable Wellbeing Futures: A Research Agenda for Ecological Economics.” Edward Elgar.

Areas of Expertise and/or Research

Monetary theory, ecological economics, embeddedness, ecofeminist political ecology

Education

  • PhD, The University of Vermont, Natural Resources, 2019
  • BBA, The University of Michigan, Finance and Economics, 2005

Contact

Office Location:

205H Morrill Hall

Courses Taught

CDAE 1610: Principles of Community Development
CDAE 3530: Macroeconomics for Applied Economics
FS 2010/NFS 2113: US Food Policy and Politics
PA 6110: Policy Analysis and Program Evaluation
PA 6060: Policy Systems